Primeval High
by Captain Fedo
Summary: How would the Primeval cast interact if they were all in high school together? I intend to find out. Definite Conby and Jecker, possible Memily and Danny/Sarah. I am an American, so please excuse any errors of ignorance and review, review, review.
1. Chapter 1

AN: The premise of this story is that all of the Primeval characters attend secondary school together. However, I am an American with no experience of how British secondary school actually is, so let me know if I mess anything up too badly. There will definitely by Conby, Jecker, Memily, and maybe DannyxSarah. Anyways, enjoy and review.

Primeval High

**Chapter 1**

It was the first day of his last year in secondary school, and Connor Temple was sitting outside the school, ten minutes before it opened. As he flipped idly through his comic book, he thought about how different this year was going to be than all of his others. The big difference, he decided, was the absence of his two best friends, Tom Mathis and Duncan Greene. Thinking about Tom made Connor think about the spring before, when his life changed forever.

For months, Tom had been suffering from severe headaches and nausea. When his parents finally took him to see the doctors, the results were worse than they had thought. Tom suffered from a malignant brain tumor, and it was killing him. Tom's family tried every treatment they could find, while Connor and Duncan settled for just spending as much of their limited time with Tom as they could. It was a rough couple of months, especially due to the mood swings the tumor brought on. The last time Connor could go to see Tom, Tom barely recognized him and shouted at Connor for no reason. Tom died in the middle of May, mere weeks before the term ended.

Tom's death sent Connor into a tailspin. He spent most of his time locked away in his room, just sitting and staring out of the window. He wasn't able to see Duncan during the summer because his parents took their family on holiday to Scotland, and then enrolled him in a boarding school in the country. The last time Connor saw Duncan was as he was packing up to leave for their start of term. Duncan said his parents thought it would be a good idea for him to get away from places that would remind him of Tom. That had been two weeks ago. Now Connor was sitting in front of the school, looking at a comic book without really seeing it, and trying to figure out how he was going to survive his last year.

That was when she caught his attention. The first thing he noticed was her hair, it was cut in a short, pixie style and it was so blonde it was almost white. Next, Connor noticed her size, she may have been petite, but she gave off an air of toughness that Connor was strangely attracted to. And most importantly, she was new to the school. She wouldn't know anything about Connor, his awkward nerdiness, his sever lack of coordination, or the fact that one of his best friends had just died. Connor could be anyone to this girl, He just had to go over there and play it cool. He could do that, he thought, he could be cool long enough for this girl to like him even after she found out about his collection of Star Wars collectibles. Connor stood up and began walking towards her, all he had to do was say something clever and cool…

XXXXX

Nick Cutter walked down the hallways of school confidently, talking with his best friend, Stephen Hart as he went. It was the first day back, and Cutter was determined to let nothing get in the way of his grades this year. He was focused on becoming a zoologist and he knew he needed top grades to follow that path. As the pair walked on to their first class, Jenny Brown-Lewis brushed past them in an attempt to get to her class as well. Cutter immediately stiffened, but tried to hide it. Unfortunately, after over ten years of friendship, Stephen noticed everything Cutter did.

"Still remind you of her?" Stephen asked quietly. Cutter knew Stephen was referring to Jenny's twin sister, Claudia.

"Yeah," He replied thickly, "Every time I think I'm going to be ok, I see somewhere we went once, or smell someone wearing her perfume, or-"

"See her identical twin sister?" Stephen suggested.

"Exactly" Cutter finished.

The two friends were silent for a moment as they continued to their class.

"You can't blame-" Stephen began, but suddenly he was cut off by an announcement over the PA system.

"Will all seniors please report to the auditorium for a brief meeting with their student body president" _(AN: What is the British equivalent, because I can't figure it out. Is it a student body prime minister? Help!)_

Cutter looked smug as he rushed off to the meeting, not eager to re-hash the same conversation with Stephen again. Stephen, however, felt differently.

"This conversation isn't over Cutter" he called after his friend's back, "We will continue talking about this!"

"Ok mum," Cutter shot back over his shoulder, "Now hurry up or we we'll be late."

Stephen sighed and followed Cutter, thinking about how stubborn he could be sometimes.

XXXXX

Abby Maitland sat in the auditorium and tried not to laugh at the fidgeting boy next to her. Connor seemed like a sweet, if klutzy, guy, but she knew there had to be more to his reputation than he was letting on, there always was. She thought about how much she had gleaned about him in the fifteen minutes they had been talking. He seemed nervous when he first walked up to her, she'd barely noticed his mumbled "alright?" and she immediately assumed he was just trying to get in her pants. But he hadn't. Connor had offered to help her find where she was going, and when she said yes, he could barely hide the look of excitement on his face. He'd walked next to her in the hallways, asking her questions about her life without trying to pry. That was what shocked Abby the most, the fact that when she talked with Connor, it was about her. He didn't interrupt with a story about him, or brag to her about his accomplishments, he just seemed content to listen to her talk about her life, as if he needed the distraction from his own.

But she'd also noticed the way the other students in the hallways looked at Connor. When they passed other guys in the hallways the looks most of them gave her weren't that hard to understand, she'd been getting those looks her whole life, it was nothing new. But the looks Connor was given confused Abby greatly. Some looked at him with confusion, as if wondering what he was doing walking around talking to Abby. Others gave Connor a look of pity. The women were the same way. Most of them also gave Connor a look of pity, but Connor seemed to ignore all of these looks as he guided Abby through the hallways. Now Connor was fidgeting in his seat while the rest of the senior class filed into the auditorium. Connor had chosen for them to sit near the back of the room, and now he was slouched down low in his seat, like he was trying to avoid being seen. Abby looked over at him again.

"Connor" she whispered, "what's wrong? Why are you hiding?" At her words, Connor sat up straighter in his chair and looked around guiltily like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"M'not hiding" Connor mumbled, "Just bored, that's all." He sat up in his seat and looked forward without saying anything else. Abby wasn't buying it; she could tell when someone was lying to her, especially when he wasn't doing a great job of hiding his nervousness. At first Abby thought it might be her that was making Connor nervous, but he'd seemed fine this morning, and she didn't know why she should make Connor nervous. Before she could continue to question Connor on his odd behavior, someone, and Abby could only assume he was the student president, stepped onto the stage and walked over to the podium.

"That's James Lester" Connor whispered, "He's the student body president. He's a great public speaker; I could see him as a civil servant in the future. You never know, he might even be the ambassador to Russia."

"He looks a little uptight" Abby whispered back, "I doubt he's much fun."

"He's not so bad," Connor replied, "He can be a little… sarcastic, at times, but he still cares about us and what we need."

"If you say so" Abby replied. Lester grabbed stood behind the podium and addressed the crowd.

"My fellow seniors," he began, "I know this year is going to be tough, especially in the beginning. With the recent passing of two of our number in the past months, I'd like to begin today with a moment of silence for Tom Mathis and Claudia Brown-Lewis."

At this, Lester stepped back a pace and bowed his head respectfully. Abby looked over at Connor and saw he was completely slumped over, his head resting on the back of the chair in front of him, and his body was trembling slightly. Abby wondered how well he had known Tom and Claudia and if they had died together, or in two separate incidents. Just as Abby was beginning to place her hand on Connor's shoulder, Lester began speaking again and Connor sat up suddenly, wiping his eyes hurriedly as Abby's hand shot back to her lap.

"And though they are gone, they will never truly be forgotten. We should honor our passed friends by studying harder and passing the exams with ease at the end of this academic year, and then going on to achieve greater things, it's what they would have wanted. Thank you."

When Lester finished his speech, the room burst into applause.

"Ya see," Connor said to Abby, "Told you he was good."

"Yeah, I guess." Abby replied as they were getting up and leaving. I didn't know anyone died recently, did you know either of them well?"

At her question, Connor stumbled slightly, but recovered quickly.

"Lester knew Claudia pretty well; they were both in the student council together. I didn't know her that well, but she seemed nice." Abby noticed the omission.

"What about T-" she began, but Connor cut her off suddenly.

"This is me," he said, stopping at an intersection, "remember, go down this hallway and make a right, your class is on the left. I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yeah," Abby replied, "Thanks Connor, for everything."

"No problem" he said as he walked off, "anytime."

And with that, Abby trudged off to her first class of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed my first chapter, I've quickly become addicted to reviews. And special thanks to Mountiegirl and MouseyJayne for explaining how the UK school system works. And just a warning, this is a long chapter, it was either long chapter, or waiting another chapter for Jecker and no one wants that. Enjoy and review.

**Chapter 2**

Connor sat in his first class of the day listening to Mr. Harper, his new English teacher, drone on about the class and what to expect. At least, he tried to listen. At the moment, he was too busy watching Danny Quinn from the other side of the room. Danny, always up for a joke and never scared to do anything, was balling up paper and throwing it across the room at Hilary Becker, who kept falling asleep in his chair. 'I guess his early morning runs are starting to get to him' Connor thought as he watched Hilary, who preferred to be called Becker, fall asleep again.

Mr. Harper kept talking about his syllabus, oblivious to the balls of paper flying across his classroom. When Becker dozed off again, Danny threw his ball of paper, arcing it so it bounced directly off Becker's nose. Becker jerked up with a grunt and looked around wildly. He looked at Connor accusingly, but Connor merely nudged his head in Danny's direction. Becker's eyes narrowed at Danny, who was pretending to be engrossed in his copy of the syllabus. Connor knew there was no real anger in Becker's glare; Danny and Becker had been friends since they were thirteen. Everyone who knew them knew about their constant rivalry and jokes.

Connor liked Becker and Danny, both were polite enough to him before Tom died, and afterwards, they'd even offered for him to hang out with them one afternoon. At the time, Connor had refused, he hadn't wanted to be brought out of his depression, but now he wouldn't mind spending time with other people. He could especially use their advice on women. Connor had realized from the moment they had started talking that he was definitely falling for Abby Maitland, he just wasn't sure how to tell if she felt the same way. Suddenly Danny raised his hand to get Mr. Harper's attention, breaking Connor from his musings. Mr. Harper had been going over what he didn't want students to do in his class, and he had just gotten to staying in your seat at all times. Connor sat forward in his seat, when Danny spoke up in class; everyone listened, waiting to hear what joke or smart aleck comment he would come out with.

"What if," Danny began, grinning, "There was a T-Rex attack."

"Or a G-Rex," Connor called out, "it's like a bigger, angrier, deadlier T-Rex."

"Exactly," Danny continues, "There's a G-Rex going crazy outside the window and you, being the responsible teacher that you are, go over to see what all of the commotion is about. Then, before you know it, WHAM!" Danny hit his desk suddenly, his voice rising with excitement, "Mr. G-Rex gets you, right through the window. What do the rest of us do then? Do we sit here quietly and wait for you to tell us we can get up, or are we then free to go?"

Mr. Harper stared at Danny for a moment as if he had grown an extra head, and then he said, calmly,

"Well Mr. Quinn, I don't see the likelihood of me being eaten by a, what did you call it, Mr. Temple?"

"A G-Rex, sir"

"A G-Rex, then. But if I am, you are all free to leave in a disorderly panic. Now, unless you have any other unlikely scenarios, I'd like to finish my syllabus now."

And with that, Mr. Harper began reading from his syllabus again. Connor sat back in his seat with a slight grin. Maybe this year wouldn't be that bad after all, he thought.

XXXXX

Cutter sat in his first class of the day staring out of the window he was sitting next to as the other students filed into the class. He as he began zoning out, his thoughts strayed back, like they always did, to Claudia. He couldn't help it, and despite what Stephen said, or what his parents, her parents, or even Jenny said, he still couldn't help feeling like he was to blame for what happened.

As he sat there, Cutter felt himself going back to that June night. They had just left the movies; Cutter had taken her to see a film as their first date. The pair had been friends for years, but Cutter's complicated relationship with Helen had kept them from being anything more than friends. But now, Cutter and Helen were finally finished, and Cutter had asked Claudia to go to see a movie with him. It was after the movie, when Cutter was driving her home that it happened. Just as Cutter drove through an intersection, an oncoming car swerved into his land and collided with them head-on. Cutter barely had time to react before the cars slammed into each other. He just remembered his only thought was, please let Claudia escape unharmed. Unfortunately, she didn't. When the cars collided, Nick's airbag deployed automatically, but due to some overlooked defect in his car, the passenger side airbag did not. Claudia Brown-Lewis was crushed by the impact and died almost instantly, the paramedics said. Nick Cutter was devastated.

He could barely remember the summer months; he spent most of them alone, shunning other human contact. Stephen was the only other person who made sure he was always there for Cutter. Stephen would always find him and sit with Cutter; sometimes they would sit quietly for hours, Stephen letting Cutter reflect on his thoughts and Cutter was just glad to have Stephen there for company. Eventually, Cutter began coming back out of his shell, trying to see other people again, trying to be social, but he always carried the weight of what happened to him. Cutter often felt that the only person who would've been able to understand him was Connor Temple, who was also suffering from the loss of his best friend, but Cutter never sought him out.

Yet, somehow, he'd survived. Here he was, the first day of his senior year, trying to keep a straight face and soldier on. Cutter had decided he was going to become an evolutionary zoologist no matter what it took. The teacher, Mrs. Cooper, was calling roll, and Cutter realized he didn't recognize the girl whose name had just been called. Mrs. Cooper said her name was Abigail Maitland, but she preferred Abby. Cutter noticed Stephen looking over at the new girl with interest and he wasn't surprised. Cutter knew Stephen had a thing for blonde women, and he couldn't help teasing him about it.

"So, that Annie is very pretty." He muttered to Stephen.

"Abby." Stephen corrected immediately, without taking his eyes off her.

"Ah," Cutter said, grinning, "You seemed to have memorized her name pretty quickly. Too bad she doesn't know yours."

"She will do," Stephen replied, "Just give me time."

As if she could tell they were talking about her, Abby looked over at the pair of boys. Cutter gave a small smile while Stephen winked at her with a grin.

"Jeez Stephen," Cutter whispered, "At least let her know your name before you try and pick her up."

At this, Stephen sat up straighter in his chair.

"Mrs. Cooper," he called, "I'm not sure if you called my name, I'm Stephen Hart." As he said the last part, he looked directly at Abby.

"Yes, Mr. Hart," the elderly math teacher replied, "I called your name."

"O.K., thank you Mrs. Harper, I was just checking." Stephen looked at Cutter with a smug grin,

"Told you I'd tell her my name." He said smiling. Cutter just sighed and looked out of the window again.

The rest of the class period passed by without incident, but as Stephen was getting up to talk properly with Abby, she hurriedly out of the classroom. Slightly deflated, he joined Cutter as they walked to their next class together.

"Hold on," Cutter said as they walked, "I've got to use the bathroom."

"Normally guys wouldn't go together," Stephen said with a grin, "But I'm not waiting outside like we're dating"

Cutter laughed as he pushed open the door. "That's alright; you'd make a terrible boyfriend anyways."

Cutter stopped suddenly as he saw the sight in front of him. Connor Temple was being held up to the wall by Dan Wilder, one of the cadet leaders in the school's JROTC program. He was flanked by two of his friends and Oliver Leek was standing by the door, apparently keeping watch, but failing.

"What's going on here?" Cutter asked, drawing attention to himself and Stephen standing in the room.

"That's none of your business, Cutter." Wilder replied testily, "Just move along and we won't have to hurt you too."

While Wilder was talking, Cutter noticed Stephen moving away from him slowly. To anyone who didn't know Stephen, it might have looked like Stephen was trying to distance himself from Cutter, but Cutter knew Stephen well enough to know he was just spreading out to get a better angle when the fight happened.

"I don't think we will, now just let Temple go and nobody has to get hurt."

"Not happening." Wilder replied.

Suddenly, Connor rammed his knee into Wilder's stomach. Cutter took that as his signal and punched one of Wilder's friends in the jaw. Stephen grunted as Wilder's other friend punched him in the stomach before Stephen could react. Stephen countered with a fist to the solar plexus, leaving the other kid on the ground, gasping for air. Meanwhile, Wilder had gotten up and was savagely punching Connor in the stomach before Cutter managed to grab Wilder in a full nelson. Stephen came over and punched Wilder in the face twice before Cutter let go of him. Leek, who had been cowering by the door, eagerly ran out as soon as Wilder headed for the exit, his two friends following him.

Stephen helped up Connor, who was coughing and trying to regain his breath.

"Thanks," he gasped at Cutter and Stephen. "I would have been in serious trouble without you two."

"It was no problem," Cutter replied, "What did you do to set them off like that?" he asked.

"No idea," Connor replied, "It was probably because they thought I wouldn't fight back and I was alone."

"Well," Stephen said seriously, "That's why you should always go to the bathroom with a buddy. That's what Cutter here is for."

"Yeah," Cutter countered, "we all know Stephen is afraid to pee by himself. Now if you'll excuse me Connor, I came in here for other reasons than to help you fight off bullies.

Connor's face went blank for a moment, but suddenly lit up with understanding.

"Right, of course, sorry." Connor said as he gathered up his things, "thanks again for the help." And with that, Connor rushed out of the bathroom. Cutter just smiled to himself as he took care of his business.

XXXXX

I've done it, Connor thought to himself happily as he walked home, I've survived the first day of senior year and managed to meet a beautiful girl in the process without completely embarrassing myself. Tom would've been proud.

At this moment, the beautiful girl in question tapped Connor on the shoulder as she walked up from behind. Connor jumped and gasped in surprise before turning around to see Abby standing behind him, grinning at his jumpiness.

"Mind if I walk with you?" she asked, still smiling.

"No, not at all." Connor replied, barely able to contain his glee.

"Good," Abby said with a sigh of relief, "I wanted to ask you how much you knew about Stephen Hart."

"Stephen?" Connor asked with surprise, "Stephen's great. In fact, he and Nick Cutter really saved my butt in the bathrooms earlier today."

As soon as he said it, Connor realized exactly how stupid that sounded, and Abby's raised eyebrow confirmed his belief.

"I mean," He stammered, "Some guys were gonna beat me up today, and Cutter and Stephen helped me fight them off."

Connor hoped Abby would be impressed that he had been part of a fight and on the winning side, but at the moment, she had thoughts for no one but Stephen.

"So Stephen is a good guy who helps people in trouble," she pressed, "That's so sweet of him. Do you know if he's seeing anyone at the moment?"

Connor sighed inwardly; he had just been designated as Abby's gay best friend. Oh well, he thought, resigned to his fate, at least she's talking to me, that's better than most girls. He looked over to where Becker was leading a group of new and old cadets to teach them drill maneuvers and thought that at least someone was happy; everyone knew Becker was in his element when it came to JROTC. Connor began telling Abby as many good things as he could remember about Stephen, deciding not to speculate about his heterosexuality, after all, he did help him out of a tight spot today.

XXXXX

Hilary Becker stood in front of the cadets, both new and returning, who wanted remedial drill practice and gave his opening day spiel.

"O.K. cadets," He began, "For those of you who don't know, I am Cadet Captain Becker, but I will never make you call me Captain, just Becker. Some cadets," Like Cadet **Colonel** Wilder, Becker thought scathingly, "Will insist that you use their cadet ranks. I'm not one of those people, but I do expect respect from all of you," Becker glared at his best friend, Danny Quinn, standing in the back of the formation. "Especially the older cadets." Danny just grinned; he knew who Becker was talking to. Danny wasn't even here for drill practice; he would just never pass up an opportunity to give Becker a hard time, even if Becker was higher up on the JROTC hierarchy than he was.

"O.K." Becker said, getting the attention of the group again, "We'll be drilling in the football field for now, seeing as it's their off-season."

"There might be a problem with that, guv." Danny interjected, "Looks like the cheerleaders got there first."

Becker looked over to where Danny was pointing, and sure enough, the cheerleading squad had taken up the football field.

"It's no problem," Becker said confidently, "there's plenty of space, and we'll just see if they're able to split the field. Shannon, begin teaching the new cadets some of the basics, Quinn, come with me."

As Shannon moved to the front of the formation, Danny and Becker began walking over to the football field.

"This might be the best drill practice we've ever had, ay mate?" Danny said grinning. Becker just shook his head; Danny always knew how to wind him up.

"Don't get distracted," he warned, "I need you to set an example for the younger cadets."

"You don't want me setting the example, Beck, you know that. If these kids followed my lead, you'd have twenty rebels with authority issues and overconfidence."

"That's true," Becker conceded, "but the point still stands, I need you to start being one of the responsible ones around here." Danny opened his mouth to raise another argument, but at that time, one of the cheerleaders walked over to the pair.

"Hi" she said her blatant cheer and good mood pouring out of her words. "I'm Jess Parker, the head cheerleader, what's up? Do you guys need anything?" Becker was silent for a moment, trying to take in the sight before him. Even Danny was rendered speechless, which was an almost impossible feat. In Becker's opinion, Jess was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. What was worse was that now, he couldn't even speak. Becker had never had a problem with public speaking, growing up in a military household made him pretty confident when he spoke; delivering weekly reports on how well he was doing in school could do that to anyone. But when he tried to speak to Jess, Becker realized he just couldn't force the word to come out. Luckily, Danny recovered faster.

"Uh, yes, we're with the JROTC program and we were wondering if you guys would be able to fit your training in half of the field."

"Why?" Jess asked.

"We were going to practice drill maneuvers," Becker cut in, finding his voice. "And this is the best place to teach beginners. Do you mind sharing the field?"

"Of course not," Jess replied, "we'll move over right now."

"Thank you," Becker said as she walked away, "we appreciate it."

"You look nice!" Danny blurted out suddenly. Jess turned around and looked at the pair.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"My friend said that you looked nice," Danny replied with a mischievous gleam in his eye. Becker adopted a blank look, trying to keep the shock out of his expression.

"Thank you," Jess gushed happily, "What did you say your name was?"

"Becker" he replied quickly, "My name is Becker. And this is Danny."

"Well, it was nice to meet both of you," she said, "I guess I'll see you during practice." She walked off to tell the other cheerleaders they were consolidating to one half of the field.

"I hate you." Becker muttered to Danny as they also walked away to get the rest of the team.

"No you don't," Danny replied grinning, "You love me for saying everything you never would. I draw the line at asking her out, though. That, my friend, you have to do yourself."

"Shut up," Becker said, smiling in spite of himself "and get back into formation so I can march you in a large square, repeatedly."

All throughout the rest of the practice, Becker couldn't keep his mind, or his eyes, off of Jess Parker. Every now and again she would catch him staring at her, and he would hurriedly call another command. Unfortunately, when she didn't notice him staring, he didn't pay attention to the rest of the platoon. He had this shouted out to him by his cadet superior, C/Col Wilder, from the other end of the field. Becker's inattention to the platoon had left them marching in place in front of a fence for the past two minutes. After a stern five minute reprimand from Wilder, during which Becker noticed that it looked like someone had punched Wilder in the face; Becker decided that the drill practice was over.

As the group dispersed, Becker rounded on Danny.

"Why didn't you let me know you were marching into the fence?"

"I figured you knew," Danny replied, "I just figured it was revenge for throwing paper at you today, or complimenting Jess in your name, speaking of… Jess!" As Danny yelled her name, Becker felt his face grow red. Jess walked over to the pair of boys with a quizzical look.

"Jess," Danny began, "My friend Becker and I were just wondering how you planned on getting home."

"Oh," Jess said, looking confused, "I was planning on walking, I don't live that far. Why?"

"You see," Danny said, slapping Becker on the chest with the back of his hand, "I told you she'd be walking. The problem with walking home is anything could happen between here and there. What you need is someone to walk with you and make sure you get home safe. My friend the soldier boy here is the perfect man for the job. So, will you let him walk you home, to make sure you get there safely, for everyone's peace of mind?"

"Yeah, ok" Jess said cheerfully, "let me just get my stuff and you can walk me home." Jess hurried off to her bags.

"I mean it this time," Becker began with a growl, "I will kill you for this."

"Quit complaining," Danny said jovially, "You'll thank me for this later. I'll text you tonight, yeah?"

"Yeah." Becker responded grumpily. Danny began walking off as Jess returned carrying her two backpacks and large gym bag.

"Here," Becker said, stepping forward, "let me get some of that for you."

"Oh, thanks Becker." Jess seemed surprised at the gesture, but she let him take the larger of the two bags. They started off walking, Becker trying to find something to talk about.

"Why do you have all of these bags?" He asked curiously, "It's only the first day of school, you can't of had this much homework."

"Oh I don't," Jess replied, "I just wanted to get ahead on some of the reading for my classes. You probably think that's pretty lame." She finished quickly, looking down.

"No, I actually think that's pretty impressive, I don't have this much drive to do well in school" Oh God, Becker thought suddenly, now she's going to think I'm an idiot slacker. "It's not that I'm lazy," he added quickly, "I just don't have your level of commitment." Jess seemed to perk up at that comment, and she began asking questions about his family and life.

Becker soon began to relax and enjoy talking with Jess, for every question he answered about himself; he would ask her the same. They had just gotten to how he managed to stay in such good shape, through his daily 6 AM morning run and workouts in the evenings, when they reached Jess' house.

"Thank you for walking me home, Becker." Jess said, "I've had a good time talking with you, we should do this again."

"How about tomorrow?" Becker asked before he could stop himself, "I mean, your house isn't moving, I could walk you home tomorrow too." Becker readied himself to be let down, but Jess' face lit up.

"Yeah," she said brightly, "That'd be great, I'll see you tomorrow, then." Becker gave her the bag and she bounced up the stairs to her apartment. Grinning to himself, Becker walked off to his own house; Danny wouldn't believe he'd managed to keep his foot out of his mouth for so long.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Ok, so originally chapters 3 and 4 were one big chapter that I wrote immediately after publishing chapter 2. But it split into two chapters better, so I'm releasing them as two chapters, but I'm publishing them at the same time.

**Chapter 3**

After leaving Abby at her house, Connor trudged wearily to his home. Connor wasn't really looking forward to seeing his mum today, but then again, he wasn't looking forward to seeing her any day. When Connor was eight years old his dad, Peter Temple, left him and his mum, never to be seen again. At the time, Connor thought it was all very sudden, but as he got older, he began to realize exactly what had driven him away.

His mother began sinking into depression soon after his birth, and as he got older, her depression got worse, but she refused to get medicated. That was what prompted his father to leave Connor and his mother for good; she never heard from or saw him again. Connor's mother began to ignore Connor, it never got as bad as neglect, and she always kept food in the house, paid the bills, and made sure the necessities were taken care of; she just didn't care about Connor. It took him a while as a child to understand everything that was happening, but eventually, he learned to adapt. Connor made his own lunch in the mornings, walked himself to school, rain or shine, did his school work, made his supper, and made sure he was up again in time the next morning. Connor knew it wasn't a perfect life, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could be, and Connor was thankful for that,

Unfortunately, having no one to talk to at home was what caused Connor to delve deeper into his science fiction and fantasy worlds for support. This was what caused his great divide from the rest of his classmates in his early years. No one wanted to talk to the boy who would only talk about his Star Wars action figures, or about the newest episode of Doctor Who. Primary school was a hard time for Connor to grow up in, but he survived.

Secondary school was a bright light on the horizon; it was there he met two fellow nerds like himself, his friends Tom and Duncan. They became like a second family to him, someone who he could talk to about anything and everything. That was what made losing Tom so hard, he'd realized, it had been like losing a brother, and then Duncan as well.

Connor walked up the steps to the small house he shared with his mother, completely lost in his thoughts about his family and Tom and Duncan. He never said he lived with his mum, always that they shared a house, because by his logic, they didn't actually live in the same place. Connor always chose to see them as two people on separate islands who were close enough to communicate if they wanted, but they never did. Connor walked inside, immediately going straight upstairs to his room and closing the door. He's make something for supper later, but while he was contemplating what to do now, his phone rang. I hope it's Abby, Connor thought excitedly. When he checked the caller id, he became even more excited and immediately answered the phone to talk to his best friend, Duncan.

"Hello, Duncan" Connor spoke into the phone, "Dunk, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here Conn," Duncan replied, "I was just calling to see how you've been. School started today didn't it?

"Yeah, it did. Didn't feel the same without you mate. How's boarding school been?"

"Good, good. Not the same as school with you and… So anyways, have you had a lot of work yet?"

Connor winced inwardly as Duncan tried to skate over Tom's name. "No," he replied, "there's not been a lot of work yet, but it's comin'. So guess what? I met a girl today, mate."

"No way!" Duncan exclaimed, "How'd you meet a girl?"

"No need to sound so surprised mate, I do alright with women."

Duncan scoffed on the other end of the phone "Don't give me that line, Conn. We both know it's a lie. So, how'd you meet her?

"She's new to the school," Connor admitted, "So she didn't know about how much of a nerd I am or about… about Tom."

"You'll have to tell her eventually, Conn." Duncan reminded him, "About both of your secrets. She's gonna find out about Tom, it's not like it's a secret. And it's only a matter of time before you let your nerdiness slip."

"I know, I know." Connor replied dejectedly, "it was just nice having someone who didn't either treat me like an outcast, or give me pity just because they felt guilty about treating me like an outcast before one of me best friends died."

"I know what you mean." Duncan replied, "I haven't told anyone over here about Tom, I mean, why should I. I don't want people treating me differently just because I lost someone. It's nice to know who's really friendly and who just feels guilty."

"That's the problem I'm having with Abby," Connor blurted out suddenly, glad he had someone he could confide in. "We seem to becoming good friends, and I don't want that to change out of pity."

"Don't worry about it Conn," Duncan said finally, "what happens will happen."

"Yeah, I guess," Connor replied, "So how've your classes been going?"

Connor and Duncan continued talking for another hour before Duncan had to go and finish some homework. When he hung up, Connor sat back in his chair, feeling decidedly better about himself. He would tell Abby about Tom tomorrow, he decided. His nerdy obsessions, however, could wait.

XXXXX

Abby Maitland liked cooking dinner. It was a job that made her feel wanted, needed, and appreciated. She discovered that about herself at an early age. Unfortunately, the reason she had to start cooking dinner was her mother leaving when she was twelve and her father's alcoholism as a result. Abby realized early on that if she didn't start taking care of herself and her baby brother, Jack, no one would. Their father was an only child and their mother's only sister stopped all communication after her sister left. So Abby was left on her own to take care of Jack. She did everything she could, from filling out school forms with her father's forged signature, to packing his lunch and tucking him in at night. And during all of this, she realized she needed Jack just as badly as he needed her. He needed to be cared for and looked after, and Abby just wanted to be valued and loved. As Jack's surrogate mother, they both got what they wanted.

"So Jack how was school?" she asked as she put served their dinner. Their father was already gone when Abby got home from school, most likely at another bar.

"It was fine." Jack responded. Because he was nine years old, Jack attended the primary school two blocks away from their new house, which let out thirty minutes before Abby's school did. Abby always worried about him walking home alone, but she knew it couldn't be helped.

"Did you make any new friends?" she asked, trying to draw him into conversation. As she discovered growing up, Jack was incredibly talkative and loved to talk about anything that concerned him. The fact that he wasn't talking about his first day at his new school worried Abby.

"Yeah," Jack replied, keeping his eyes on his plate.

"Jack," Abby began cautiously, "what's wrong. You know you can tell me anything, I won't be mad."

At this, Jack began to break down into tears. "I-I'm so s-sorry, Abby." He sobbed, "I j-just wanted to sh-show him to the other kids. I didn't m-mean to. I'm so s-sorry."

"Jack," Abby said calmly, "tell me what happened. You wanted to show who to the other kids?"

"R-Rex" Jack managed to get out before he completely dissolved into tears.

Rex was Abby's pet lizard, a common lizard she had found outside the door of their old house. She had taken him in and, after researching what type of lizard he was and what he ate, she fed him and made him a house to sleep in. It was the only pet she was able to take with her when they left their old home, their dogs, Sid and Nancy, had to be given away. She knew Jack loved Rex, but she'd always told him to never take him out of his cage unless she was there. She had to find out what had happened to Rex.

"Jack," Abby said soothingly, "What happened to Rex? Did he get away, or… what?" she finished lamely, she didn't want to think about what else might have happened to her poor lizard.

"I was showing him to some of the people in my class," Jack said slowly as he started to calm down. "And then one of the bigger kids, Tony, took his box out of my hand and he ran away. I tried to chase him, but some of his friends held me down, and then recess was over, and then afterschool, I didn't see him, but I looked, and then I had to go home." He finished his story in a quick breath. "I'm so sorry, Abby. Please don't leave me."

Abby's heart melted. He was so scared of being left alone for doing something wrong that he began to cry again. Abby moved over next to him and held his head while he cried.

"Shhh," she whispered soothingly, "I'm not ever going to leave you Jack. I'm your big sister and I will always be there for you." Abby continued to hold Jack until the crying stopped.

"You're not mad?" He asked, his eyes full of tears.

"No," Abby responded, "I'm not mad at you; you didn't mean to lose him. I'm going to try and get him back, ok. Do you know Tony's last name?"

"D-Durran, I think." Jack replied, "I think I heard someone say it was Durran."

"Ok," Abby replied, "why don't you go on upstairs and get cleaned up and ready for bed, I'll see about getting Rex back from this Tony Durran."

As Jack walked off, Abby began panicking to herself. Who could she get to help her find her lizard? She barely knew anyone here. The only person she thought might help her was Connor, but even then, why should he run around helping someone he just met find her pet lizard. He'd seemed like a nice person, but everyone seemed like a nice person at first. Monica, her dad's new ex-wife, had seemed like a nice person at first. Abby had been elated to get a new mom, someone who could help her with the cooking and cleaning and Jack. Someone who would love her. But when they started living together, everything had changed. Monica hadn't done anything but belittles Abby and torment Jack. Even their alcoholic father noticed and had enough. The divorce was messy and took two months, bringing the total time Monica had been a part of the family to six months. Then they'd had to move here, because Monica had won the house and spent her time spreading rumors, and the occasional truth, about Roger Maitland. With no house and his reputation ruined, Roger Maitland had uprooted his family and moved them here to London.

No, she decided, no one was ever as good as they seemed to be at first. But unfortunately, she had no other choice. Abby picked up her phone and began punching in Connor's number, which he had scrawled on a scrap of paper. As a joke, he'd written: in case of emergencies. Well, Abby thought, he was getting a minor emergency, but an emergency all the same.

XXXXX

Connor sat at his kitchen table, witnessing an almost unprecedented event. His mother had walked into the kitchen while he was in there making himself a grilled cheese sandwich, and in a departure from nine years of tradition, she continued into the kitchen, poured herself a pot of coffee that Connor had brewed that morning, and sat down to read the newspaper, which Connor had also brought in before he left for school. Usually whenever they ran into each other, one of them would leave the room and come back later. Through years of unspoken communication, they had managed to establish a set of ethics that dictated what to do in each situation, depending on who was in what room and what they were doing. Ethics dictated that if Connor was making a meal, then she had to leave and check back in half an hour. Yet here she was, sitting down at the table like nothing was wrong.

Connor cautiously sat down at his seat across from her with his supper. She looked at him.

"You've had grilled cheese for the past three nights, you'll clog your arteries and die of a heart attack if you keep it up."

Connor made a tremendous effort to keep his jaw from hitting the floor when she spoke to him. The last thing his mother had said to him was happy birthday, and that was for his thirteenth birthday. Connor was seventeen now. He tried to keep his voice under control as he responded to her.

"We don't speak for over four years, and that's all you have to say to me. Well, we're out of milk." He looked at her defiantly, as if daring her to comment on his snarkiness. Connor felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, but he sent the call to voicemail without looking to see who it was.

"I mean, jeez, mum." Connor put extra emphasis on the word 'mum'. "What prompted this sudden outburst of love and concern? Thanks for telling me I'm clogging my arteries, that's the nicest thing you've said to me in the past four years. Of course, that's the only thing you've said to me in the past four years, so that's not saying much!" Connor was standing up now, his face red with anger. In his pocket, his phone vibrated insistently, but he continued to ignore it.

"Look Connor!" his mother shouted, rising from her chair as well, "You know your father leaving hasn't been easy for me, but-"

"Dad's leaving?" Connor shouted angrily, cutting her off. "Dad left nine years ago. You lost the right to use dad's leaving as an excuse for your distance eight years ago. You don't talk to me because you're clinically depressed but you refuse to get medication for it. That's the same reason dad left."

"How did you know that?" she asked angrily, "who told you that?"

"He did." Connor yelled, "He's been e-mailing my since I was fourteen and old enough to understand your problem. It may not be the best parenting technique, but at least I hear from him."

"What do you want me to say, Connor?" she shouted back, almost in tears.

"I didn't want you to say anything!" Connor yelled suddenly. "This was working for me, I was just going to suffer one more year of silence, then go off to a university and we would never have to have anything to do with each other again. That was the plan, why are you screwing things up?"

"I don't want that plan Connor." She said desperately, "I want to get to know you again; I want to have a relationship with you, mother and son."

"Yeah, well you missed that boat, you missed it by a longshot." He said finally. "I'm going out," Connor said, standing up and grabbing his hat off the table. "And I'm taking my artery clogger with me." He added, grabbing his grilled cheese sandwich and heading out of the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As he headed down his road, unsure of where he was heading, Connor pulled his phone from his pocket. The screen told him he missed four calls from an unknown number and that he had three voicemails from the same. He activated his voice mail and listened to his messages:

"Connor, hi, it's Abby. Listen, I'm sorry to ask you for this, but I really need your help. My brother Jack took our pet lizard, Rex, to school and some kid, Tony Durran, took him. Jack is devastated and I really need your help to find him, please. Just call me back, yeah?" End of first message.

"Connor, hi, it's Abby again. Look, I know you're probably busy but I really need your help, please. I've got to find Rex; he's my only link to my old home. Just, please call me back." End of second message.

"You know what, Connor? I thought I could trust you! I thought you wouldn't turn out to be someone different once I got to know you, but I guess I was wrong. Don't ever talk to me again, Connor Temple. I hate you, you horrible person! If I ever see you again, I'll kill you!" End of third message. There are no new messages.

Connor didn't realize it, but he had stopped dead in his tracks by the time the third message had come on. When it was over, Connor simply stood in place, hating himself more and more each second. Abby had needed him, and he had let her down. For what, to get into an argument with his mother. His mother hadn't spoken to him in years, she could've waited another day; but Abby, Abby had needed his help then, and he hadn't been there. She was right to hate him, he hated himself. He knew he had to make this up to her, but how. Connor re-listened to the first message. Tony Durran, he had to find Tony Durran and get Rex back. Then at least he could live with himself afterwards, even if Abby still wanted nothing to do with him.

Thinking hard, Connor remembered a John and Rachel Durran that lived only a few blocks away, maybe Tom was their son, or they were related to him in some other way and knew where he lived. As headed over to where The Durrans lived, Connor realized he might need some help convincing the Durrans that Tony had taken Rex. Looking around wildly, Connor knew Becker was the closest person he knew that could help him. Connor ran off in the direction of Becker's house without a second thought.

He arrived there a few minutes later, sweating slightly as he rang the doorbell. Luckily, it was Becker himself that answered the door.

"Connor" he said, more than a little surprised, "What's going on, why are you all sweaty? Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Connor gasped, "My friend, Abby, had her lizard stolen by someone named Tom Durran, and I know some Durrans, but I might need help convincing them that their son stole a lizard, and you were closest, so I came to see if you could help me, please?"

Becker raised an eyebrow, "Where's Abby if it's her lizard?" He asked, looking around his door to see if she was waiting outside.

"She's mad at me." Connor said quietly, "I ignored her calls like an idiot, and now she won't talk to me because I let her down."

Becker had heard all he needed to know, he would never leave a friend in trouble, even if he didn't know Connor that well. "Dad," he called back into the house, "I need to go out for a bit, I've got a friend who needs some help."

"Ok," his dad responded, "Just don't be out to late, Hil, it's a school night."

"Yes, sir" he replied, "C'mon Connor, let's go find your missing lizard."

"Thank you so much." Connor said with a relieved sigh as they set off in the direction of the Durrans. "Why did your dad call you Hil?" He asked, looking over at Becker, "If you don't mind me asking."

"I've often wondered the same thing myself." Becker replied, smiling to himself at the private joke. Connor didn't push the issue as they carried on.

They reached the Durran apartment in tem minutes and Connor rang the doorbell. Mr. Durran came to the door.

"Um, yes?" he asked, looking at the two boys in puzzlement. "What can I do for you two?"

"Mr. Durran," Connor began, "I'm Connor Temple, I think you knew my parents. I was wondering if you had a son named Tony.

"Oh, Connor, how nice to see you again. Yes, my son's name is Tony, why?"

"My friend's little brother brought his pet lizard to school today and said your son took it from him; we were wondering if you could check his things to see if your son has the lizard."

"Tony came home with a lizard just today, claiming he found it at school, let me go get it for you, just wait here for a moment." As Mr. Durran walked off, Connor and Becker exchanged looks of glee at their good luck. Moments later, Mr. Durran brought out a cardboard box and held it out to the boys.

"Is this the lizard in question?" he asked the two boys. Connor had never seen Rex before, and he knew Becker hadn't either, but it looked like the type of lizard you would name Rex, so Connor replied, "Yes it is, Mr. Durran. Thank you for all of your help."

"It was no problem," Mr. Durran assured them, "and believe me, Tony will be punished for this, you have my word." The boys thanked him again as he closed the door.

"If that's all you need me for, Connor," Becker said, "I'll just head on home."

"Don't you want to come with me to Abby's and give her Rex back? You know, share in the hero treatment."

"Nah, I'm fine without the hero treatment, thanks." Becker replied casually, "Besides, aren't you the one who needs to get back in Abby's good books? I don't even think she knows me yet. You can take this one Connor; you'll be fine without me."

Connor just grinned, "Thanks mate, I really appreciate everything you've done tonight. Anything you need just let me know."

"I'll keep that in mind," Becker replied as he headed off, "I'll see you tomorrow, Connor."

Grinning widely, Connor went to Abby's house, holding Rex's box gently. When he got there, the first thing he noticed was the lack of lights on in the house. It's only 9:30, he thought to himself. She should be up. Connor walked up the front door and rang the doorbell. After a few moments, a small, tousle haired boy answered the door. That must be Jack, Connor thought to himself.

"Who're you?" the boy asked, looking up at Connor.

"Is Abby here?" Connor questioned back

"Yeah, but she went to sleep early tonight. She said I could stay up until ten if I'm quiet, so I'm being quiet while watching the telly." Jack was grinning, looking proud of the trust Abby placed in him to be quiet.

"Are you Jack?" Connor asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah, why?" Jack responded warily.

"Because I think this," he pulled Rex's box out from behind him with a flourish, "is yours."

Jack's face lit up. "You found Rex! Thank you so much. What's your name?

Connor grinned, "Tell Abby that C-" suddenly Connor stopped. It didn't really matter if he got the lizard or not, that wasn't the real point. The point was that she needed him and he wasn't there for her. Finding Rex was just a way to make him feel better.

"Tell Abby that a kind stranger brought him back" he told Jack. "Have a good night Jack, and keep Rex in the house from now on, yeah?" Jack just grinned at Connor as he walked off. For once, Connor felt like the hero.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Abby woke up, trying to remember why she felt so bad. Then she remembered the events of the night before, and Connor Temple. She felt herself getting angry all over again, she couldn't believe she'd fooled herself into believing there was someone out there who'd want to do something nice for her. Abby forced herself to get out of bed; someone has to get Jack up, she thought to herself.

However, as Abby walked into Jack's room, she saw that he was already up and playing with something in a cardboard box.

"Abby!" Jack cried with joy when he saw her, "Look, Rex is back."

"What?" Abby gasped, "What do you mean Rex is back? How did Rex get back here?"

"Someone brought him back after you went to bed last night." Jack told her gleefully.

"Who?" Abby asked quickly, "Did he say what his name was?" Abby realized she had asked what **his** name was. She knew who she wanted it to be, even if she couldn't believe he would do it.

"He wouldn't tell me his name," Jack replied, looking thoughtful, "But he said to tell you a kind stranger brought him back. Do you know who it is?"

"Maybe," Abby said slowly, "What did he look like?"

Jack looked confused, "I don't remember that much, I was too happy at getting Rex back to pay attention." Abby tried to hide her disappointment. Suddenly Jack looked up.

"Hat!" he exclaimed, "The guy had a weird hat on." Abby thought about this information. Connor did seem like the type of guy who would wear an odd hat; she'd just have to ask him today at school. Then all of a sudden she realized it couldn't have been Connor who'd brought Rex back, because she'd chewed Connor out through voicemail and told him to never speak to her again. She'd severed all bridges between the pair of them, so why would he go out of his way to find her pet lizard. The realization hit her painfully, followed by a wave of sadness. She'd made one real friend since she'd gotten to her new school, and in a fit of anger over a lizard, she'd run him off. Unfortunately, that left her with the question of who had brought Rex back and how did they know. Even as she tried to come up with other names, only one kept popping back into her head, Connor.

XXXXX

A few blocks away, Connor Temple awoke with a start. He groaned, trying to take stock of his surroundings and remember where he was. Oh yeah, Connor thought glumly, I'm in the woods by the school. Connor knew most people didn't take him for the outdoorsman type, and if he could have his way, he wouldn't be; but given the choice between going home last night or sleeping in the woods, Connor had no problem sleeping with his back against a tree, covered by his leather jacket. Connor groaned as he stood up, stretching out his back and arms while looking around for his hat.

Instinctively Connor checked his phone, which he'd put on silent after the fifth call from his mother. He saw she'd called another six times and left messages after each call. Connor deleted all of them at once; he wasn't in the mood to deal with her now. Scooping up his hat and placing it on his head, Connor began walking in the direction of his school, hoping no one would notice he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

Connor barely made it to school in time, darting into his first class seconds before the bell. He took his seat next to Becker as Mr. Harper began calling roll.

"How'd it go last night?" Becker asked as soon as Connor sat down. "Was she glad to see you, or just the lizard?"

"I didn't see her," Connor admitted quietly, "I gave Rex to her little brother. I don't think she wants to see me anyways, she was pretty clear on that in her message."

"That sucks, mate." Becker said sympathetically. "Hey, um, don't take this the wrong way or anything, but weren't you wearing that yesterday and last night?"

"Wha- no," Connor said, turning bright red, "No, it's just the same jacket and type of jeans, I've changed me shirt, I had a blue one yesterday."

Luckily, Becker seemed to believe him, and he let it go. Mr. Harper had finished taking roll and began lecturing the class immediately on the elements of literature. Connor sat back in his chair, trying to focus on Mr. Harper's words, but his thoughts kept drifting back to Abby. He knew he'd see her today, he just didn't know how he was going to react to her. Should he ask for forgiveness or just let her ignore him completely. Connor contemplated asking Becker for advice, but when he looked over, Becker was slumped back in his seat, his head lolling to one side while he slept. Connor laughed to himself. He'd slept in the woods and he still seemed to have gotten more sleep than Becker had. Connor realized someone needed to take notes, but he didn't have any materials with him. He leaned over casually and took the paper off of the sleeping Becker's desk. I'll let him see the notes later, Connor thought; after all, I do owe him one.

XXXXX

As the day progressed, Abby kept looking for Connor amid the sea of people, but she couldn't find him anywhere. Even if I do find him, she thought dejectedly, what could I possibly say to make up for everything I said to him? She finally decided on simply apologizing and waiting to see his reaction.

At midday, Abby walked into the lunchroom and experienced her first spot of luck, she saw Connor sitting alone with his head down at one of the tables, and next to him was a hat she hadn't seen him wearing before. That has to be the hat, the one Jack saw, she thought excitedly, it was Connor, I knew it. She walked up to where he was sitting and sat down across from him. Connor looked up, and for a moment Abby could've sworn she saw joy flicker across his face, but it was instantly replaced by sadness. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Connor began speaking,

"Look, I know I messed up, I should have been there for-"

"I'm sorry," Abby blurted out, cutting Connor off mid-apology. She couldn't stand to see him like this, he blamed himself. That was what killed her the most, he wasn't mad at her like he should be, he was mad at himself.

"What?" Connor said, confused. "What are you sorry for? You didn't do anything; I was the one who ignored your calls."

"But I blew everything out of proportion; I chewed you out over a lizard." At this, she remembered why she had been looking for Connor in the first place. "And speaking of, thank you so much for finding Rex. How'd you do it?"

"How'd you know it was me?" Connor asked, trying to look innocent.

"Connor, who else would it have been? I didn't call anyone else but you. Besides, Jack said that the person had an odd hat, and here it is."

"Me fedora isn't odd." Connor said defensively, "and yeah, it was me. I got lucky, I knew some Durrans and it was their son. It was just luck." He looked away, embarrassed at Abby's admiration.

"Well, thank you, kind stranger." Abby said with the hint of a smile. She frowned at him suddenly as she realized something.

"Connor," she asked tentatively, "Weren't you wearing those clothes yesterday?"

"No" he replied loudly, "It was a different shirt, yesterday's was blue."

"Connor, I'm a girl." Abby said calmly, "I'd remember if you were wearing a different shirt yesterday, that's the same shirt. Why didn't you change?"

Connor looked down, clearly embarrassed about something, "I slept kinda… rough last night." He said finally.

"What do you mean 'rough'?" Abby asked confused. "Is something wrong at your house?" She was worried he might get mad at her prying, but instead he just sighed.

"No," he replied, "there was just an argument with me mum and I didn't go back home. That's why I kept ignoring your calls."

"Oh" Abby said. Now she felt even worse. Connor had just had a fight with his mum, who he probably loved very much, and then she'd added her hateful message onto his list of problems.

"I'm sorry," she said after a period of silence, "if there's anything I can do for you, just ask, yeah?"

"Alright" Connor said smiling. "There is one thing. Can I borrow a fiver for lunch? I left me money at home, and I didn't have any breakfast."

Abby just laughed at him as she pulled out her wallet. "Get something for me too," she told him, handing him the money. She watched Connor walk off towards the food line with a smile, happy that everything worked out in the end.

XXXXX

At the other end of the room, Cutter and Stephen sat watching the pair.

"Bad luck mate." Cutter said sympathetically, "Looks like Temple got there first."

"It's alright," Stephen replied nonchalantly, "Connor needs someone to care about him. I've got you for that."

Cutter laughed, "I'm just glad I could be here for you." But Cutter's laughs died as Helen Carpenter suddenly sat down next to him.

"Hello Nick. Stephen." she said, looking at the pair of them, "What's the joke?"

Cutter remained silent while Stephen watched him worriedly. Helen looked between the two boys.

"What?" she pouted, "Not even gonna talk to me. That's pretty rude, Nick, even for you."

"Go away," Cutter said firmly, "I told you I want nothing to do with you anymore."

"But I know you didn't mean it." Helen said coyly, "You and I can never stay apart for long, Nick. You know that."

"I think we can, Helen." Cutter replied, "Or at least, I can. Can't you find friends of your own? Why do you have to keep trying to re-enter my life."

"I'm lonely, Nick" Helen said finally, "I'm only human. I just want someone to care for me. And I miss you."

"Well I don't miss you." Cutter said finally as he stood up, "Good bye, Helen." And with that, Cutter walked off. Stephen made to follow him, but Helen grabbed his arm.

"See if you can get him to change his mind." She said simply, staring at Stephen fiercely. "I'd hate for him to find out about our night while he was away."

"You wouldn't," Stephen said, horrified, "You know what that would do to him."

"Yes I do," Helen said, "but I also know what he'll do to you. See if you can't change his mind about me."

"He couldn't put me through any worse torture than I've put myself every day since that night. Good bye Helen." Stephen wrenched his arm free and walked out of the lunchroom, leaving Helen sitting all alone.

AN: Finally! I've been trying to get Helen into a chapter since the beginning. Hope you liked it and please review. Also, coming up: the introduction of Memily. Stay tuned.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Matt Anderson surveyed the harsh, arid landscape of his home world. At his side stood his father, Gideon._

"_Are you ready?" Gideon asked._

"_Yes," Matt replied, "I know what I'm supposed to do, I won't let you down."_

"_Good, head through the portal and save the world."_

_Matt began walking towards the ball of refracted shards of light. He took a deep breath and plunged through._

Matt sat back and looked happily at what he'd written so far. As far as anyone else was concerned, he was writing notes, but history had always been his strongest subject, so he wasn't unduly worried.

What did worry him, however, was anyone finding out what he was writing. He'd worked hard to keep up his tough guy persona through his school years, and he knew if people found out he spent his time writing sci-fi adventures with himself as the hero, he'd be the laughingstock of the school. Matt did not want his reputation ruined on the second day of class.

He normally wouldn't have written these in school at all, but he'd had a great idea the night before and this was the first time he was able to write it. Matt closed the blue notebook he kept all of his writings in as Mr. Harkness ended his lecture, telling his students to begin packing their things. As class ended and everyone filed out into the hallways, eager to go home, Matt put on his usual don't-mess-with-me scowl and headed down the hallway quickly so he could get home and finish writing down his ideas.

He was so focused on getting through the hall without being bothered that he completely collided with a girl going the opposite direction. As he hit her, both of their stacks of books tumbled out of their hands.

"Ah, jeez, I'm so sorry." Matt said apologetically as he crouched down to help the girl separate their things. "That was completely my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going, I'm sorry." I may act like a tough guy, Matt thought, but no one wins points for being rude to women.

"No, it was my fault as well." The girl replied, gathering her books into a pile. "My name is Emily Merchant. What is your's?"

"Matt." He responded, extending his hand. Emily shook it and Matt noticed she had a firm handshake, which Matt liked.

"So, I guess I'll see you around?" Matt said, standing up.

"I guess so." Emily replied. "It was nice to meet you." She said before walking off. Matt found himself watching her go before he realized he had an image to maintain. Aside from the formality, she seemed kinda nice, Matt thought to himself. He grinned to himself as he walked out of the school into the sunshine. I should try and see her again, Matt decided. Tomorrow, I'll see her tomorrow.

XXXXX

Danny Quinn was a happy guy. His senior year was starting off well, he'd managed to stay out of serious trouble so far, and most importantly, he was on his way to see his secret girlfriend. Danny loved the extra thrill having a secret girlfriend entailed. Not that he had a problem dating the smart and beautiful Sarah Page. The secrecy had been one her conditions to date him.

Her parents were incredibly strict about her dating, so in the beginning, she'd rejected all of Danny's offers to go see a movie or get dinner. Danny was nothing if not persistent, however. He'd kept up at it until he'd finally got her to admit the problem. She was devastated, she had feelings for Danny too, but she couldn't go against her parents. That was when Danny suggested the idea of a secret relationship, her parents didn't need to know, he'd told her. Sarah's objection was her friends, who were all very gossipy and over at her house all the time. She was afraid one of them would let it slip in front of her parents. Danny had a solution for that too. They would keep their relationship a secret from everyone. As far as anyone would know, they'd just be friends.

That had been five months ago, and now Danny was heading to one of their favorite rendezvous spots, the grove of trees near the back of the school. As he approached the opening in the tree line, his smile got wider. He really did love Sarah, and she loved him. There was just something about being in her presence that made him feel better about everything.

As he walked into the tree, he heard rustling in the woods to his right. Danny looked, expecting her to jump out at any moment. He wasn't expecting the sudden battle cry from behind him, and he barely had time to turn around before Sarah jumped out from the trees, knocking him flat on his back. They lay there on the ground for a moment, Danny on his back with Sarah laughing as she lay on top of him.

"How'd you make that rustling sound from the other side of the path?" He asked looking up at her.

"Fishing line," Sarah replied, "tied to one of those big branches full of dead leaves."

Danny laughed at her cunning. "Has anyone ever told you you're brilliant?" he asked.

"Not nearly as much as they should." She responded as she leaned down to kiss him. "You can start now, if you like."

"Well, you're brilliant." Danny said grinning as he kissed her back. "Now, can I please get up now?"

"Nope." Sarah replied, smiling at him as she leaned down to kiss him again.

XXXXX

As he walked her home, Becker was battling a fierce internal battle. Take her hand, the impulsive side of his mind yelled, in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Danny's. Meanwhile, his less confident side was shouting, don't take her hand; what would she want with a guy like you? She probably has loads of football players clamoring for her attention, why would she agree to go out with a military obsessed guy like you? While the voices kept arguing, Jess began talking again.

"So, we were talking yesterday about your morning workouts and I was wondering if, um, well if you'd mind if I went running with you? I'm not that slow, I mean, I'm probably not as fast as you, but um, if you don't want to, that's fine."

Becker was shocked. She wanted to run with him. Maybe she didn't understand how much he ran every morning.

"You do know I run two miles every morning, right?" He asked cautiously

"Yeah, I can do it." Jess replied earnestly, "I ran track here for the last three years, but I quit this year to focus on my studies. I just want to stay in shape."

"If you think you're up to it, ok. I'll meet you in front of your house at 6 tomorrow morning." Becker tried to keep his voice casual, but inside he was feeling a combination of excitement and worry. He was excited that he could spend more time with her, in running shorts no less, but he was worried she would only want to spend time with him if it was workout related.

"Um, about the time," Jess began. Becker immediately became more worried, she'd want to move it later so she could sleep more and that would mess him up, but he knew he wouldn't say anything out of fear of chasing her off.

"Do you think we could move it to 5:30? I'll need the extra time to get ready." Becker was caught off guard by the request to move the time up, and could only tell her that it wouldn't be a problem.

Her whole body seemed to perk up. "Oh, good." She replied cheerfully, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then. Bye Becker." She walked off to her apartment. Becker just watched her go, completely dumbstruck by what had just happened. Did I just agree to run thirty minutes earlier?

XXXXX

Matt sat down at his desk later that night with his blue notebook on the desk. He'd just had the idea for the portals to also go back into Earth's past and bring dinosaurs for Matt to fight. Matt sat down to write and opened his notebook excitedly.

And then stopped. The handwriting in the notebook wasn't his. It was an elegant, flowing cursive, as opposed to Matt's short, concise block lettering. Matt flipped through the notebook in terror; each page had the same writing. This wasn't a joke, someone else had his notebook. Matt checked the front cover of the book and saw the name written in the same flowing script, Emily Merchant.

After his initial few moments of fear and concern, Matt began reading through Emily's writings. Her writings were short pieces, but each one was full of detailed descriptions and powerful imagery. Compared to her writings, Matt felt like an idiot child writing about his day. Where Emily had descriptions of the scenery and nature, Matt had large fight scenes between himself and a ten foot alien that could shoot acid out of any one of its eight tentacles. Emily's writings went into detail when describing what each person looked like and how they acted. Matt didn't think he even wrote about the color of his character's hair.

Looking over everything Emily wrote, Matt realized he had a choice. He could never write another word in his free time, or he could begin improving his writing right now. Matt had never considered himself a quitter, so he grabbed a sheet of paper and his pen.

XXXXX

Becker sat in his bed, trying to force himself to go to sleep. Every time he tried, however, one name kept popping back into his head. He just couldn't get Jess off of his mind. Except for one way. There was one surefire way to get his mind off of Jess, but he'd done it the night before, it was why he'd gotten so little sleep. He stayed in his bed for another ten minutes, trying to get to sleep. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and he threw the blankets off of himself, getting out of bed.

No one knew about the secret he kept in a box under his bed. He would be mortified if his father found it. And he didn't think he would be able to stand the humiliation if someone like Danny found it. Becker got on his knees next to his bed and reached underneath it to grab the cardboard box. He gave one final sigh of resignation and pulled the box out, taking the top off and setting it to the side.

Becker reached into the box and pulled out his stack of poetry along with the pack of paper and pen he used to write it. Becker looked through the stack of poems he had written about Jess the night before. After reading through his Jess-related pile, Becker read a few he had written about going to the shooting range with his father, and some about the death of his grandmother. With another sigh, Becker grabbed his pen and sat back against his bed, waiting for the words to come to him.

AN: Yes, Becker writes poems about Jess and Matt fantasizes about being an action hero. Deal with it. I do not do poetry, I draw the line at fanfiction, but if someone can write me a good poem that Becker would have written for Jess. I'll put it in here and credit you for it. If not, I'll just leave it vague. Please review, and don't worry, the Conby will return in the next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: This chapter is more of a collection of different perspectives throughout the third day of class and a week after that when Matt meets Emily again. I hope you enjoy these and don't worry, a plot is coming; I just had to tie up these loose ends. Please review.

**Chapter 7**

Becker was exhausted, and his first class of the day wasn't helping him at all. He'd stayed up all night writing more poems about Jess. In fact, he'd only stopped when his alarm clock went off, meaning he had to get dressed for his run. Becker didn't understand it, when he wrote his poems, he couldn't stop thinking of nice things about her, but when they were actually together, he was completely tongue tied, only able to answer direct questions.

He had his arms on the desk, trying to keep his head up when Connor walked in.

"Hey mate," he said casually as he sat down. Becker noticed he looked almost as tired as he did. Connor looked over at him and held out the cup of coffee he'd brought in with him.

"Here, I knew you were tired yesterday, so I brought you some coffee from home to keep you awake. I'm not doing your notes every day." He grinned at Becker and shook the coffee enticingly.

"Connor, you are a godsend." Becker said gratefully as he took the coffee. Maybe I might survive today, Becker thought as he took a drink and waited for the blessed caffeine to hit his system.

XXXXX

Connor hid an inward sigh; he'd really wanted that coffee. Contrary to what he'd told Becker, Abby had made that coffee for Connor as a way of saying thank you again for saving Rex. Connor had really needed the coffee as he'd slept out in the woods again.

After school the day before, he and Abby had walked around, just talking. During that time, she'd tried to find out more about why he left his house for the night, but Connor refused to talk about it. No one knew the extent of what went on, the only people he'd ever even give hints to were Duncan and Tom; and he didn't want to tell Abby everything that was going on with his life just yet. Connor was still worried that if she found out everything about him, she wouldn't want anything to do with him anymore.

But he had told her that there was an argument and he'd left. Abby had encouraged him to talk it out with his mother, but Connor knew she didn't really understand how things were at his house. When she went back to her house, Connor told her he'd talk things out with his mother that night. He didn't. Instead, he crept into his house at two in the morning to shower and change his clothes. Even Becker would notice if he wore the same thing for three days in a row, and he was starting to smell. With the 2 am shower and worry over what he would say to his mother when he finally did see her, Connor hadn't slept much last night.

However, when Abby had asked him this morning how it had gone, Connor lied and told her everything went well and all was forgiven. He felt bad lying to Abby, but he didn't want her to know about his family yet, and he didn't want her to try and force him to talk with his mother when he wasn't ready. What did you say to someone you've lived with your whole life and barely spoken to? Connor decided he would talk to her today, immediately afterschool. He squared his shoulders and began mentally preparing himself for the afternoon.

XXXXX

It was the end of the school day and Cutter walked outside with a wide smile, enjoying the bright sunshine. Stephen had to stay afterschool to work on something, so Cutter began his walk home alone. As he walked away from the school, he saw a familiar form walking ahead of him.

Cutter sped up to talk to Jenny, tapping her on the shoulder as he walked up. She jumped at his approach and gave a little gasp. Cutter gave a short laugh.

"I didn't think I was that scary." He said with a grin. Jenny looked up at him, embarrassed.

"I was just thinking, Nick, sorry." She said, looking down. Cutter frowned at her.

"It's my fault, I should be the one to apologize, but what's wrong?"

"Nothing" she replied quickly, but Cutter just stared at her. She finally relented.

"It's just, I don't know if I can do this." She said in a rush of breath, "I thought I could, over the summer, I thought I would be able to face everyone here, but I can't. I can't stand to see the looks of pity everyone gives me, I don't want everyone's pity, I just want my sister back." As she unburdened herself to Nick, she began to cry lightly.

"It's gotten to where the only person I talk to anymore is Lester. He doesn't show any emotions as it is, I don't have to worry about him giving me pity. I just want someone to talk to, not just about Claudia, but about anything. I just want someone to treat me like I didn't lose my better half."

Cutter looked at Jenny, standing in the street crying. Sadness washed over him. In his mind, he'd done this to her, he'd forever changed her life and happiness. The least he could do was try and comfort her. Cutter moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"You want to talk? Let's talk." He said soothingly, "I'm here for you. Let's get you home." At this, Jenny looked up.

"Can we just stay out for now," she'd asked faintly, "I don't want to go back yet. Can we just walk and talk, please."

"We can do whatever you want." Cutter replied reassuringly. He let go of her and placed his arm supportively around her shoulders as they walked down the street.

XXXXX

Connor stood outside of his front door, mentally psyching himself up. You can do this, he said under his breath, you can do this. With a deep breath, Connor grabbed the door knob and opened the door, stepping inside.

He walked into the kitchen and saw his mother sitting at the kitchen table, coffee cup in hand. She looked up as Connor walked in and he set his bag down on the floor by the table. Connor pulled out his chair and sat down across from his mother.

"So," he began casually, "are you done talking, or can we try again?" His mother's eyes brightened as she sat up straighter. She looked into her son's eyes with joy, glad to have him home.

"So, how've you been?" she asked with a smile. Connor just grinned as he prepared to fill in the last nine years of his life to someone who had been living in the same house the whole time.

XXXXX

It had been a week since they'd switched notebooks and Matt had finally stopped looking for Emily Merchant. He'd panicked after not being able to find her the first day, but every day since then the fear subsided a little more. Now, he didn't care if he found her or not. He was still enthralled with the writings she'd left in her book, and Matt had spent most of his nights trying to mimic her flowing script. And then, after a week of looking, she found him.

He'd been getting his books out of his locker, preparing to go home; when he closed the locker door, there she was, looking at him. Matt jumped a little, surprised by how quietly she'd moved up one him. The hallway was completely empty by now; he'd waited in his last class for a moment, talking to the teacher. Now he was alone in the hallway with Emily.

"I have your notebook." She said calmly. Matt was slightly taken aback at her directness, but he found he kind of enjoyed it too.

"Well hi to you too." He replied calmly, "Yeah, you do. I've got yours here. Where've you been? I've been looking all over for you."

"I had something come up out of town." She replied evasively. "I'm sorry, but I wrote in your notebook, I needed something to write in and I didn't have mine. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Matt replied, "I kinda wrote in yours too. You have an amazing gift for writing." Matt was pleased to see that Emily began to blush at his compliment.

"Thank you." She said, looking at the floor, "Your writings were very good too." Matt laughed.

"I thought so too until I read yours." He admitted, "Your stories were full of description and imagery, mine had barely described fighting and dialogue. In fact, I'm actually amazed you could even read mine; sometimes I can't even tell what I wrote."

"You're too hard on yourself," she responded, "It wasn't as bad as you think, I actually enjoyed several of them. But I could still give you pointers if you want." She offered.

"Yeah," Matt replied, "Maybe over dinner." She looked taken aback at the offer and even Matt had to admit to himself that he'd surprised himself with his impulsiveness. After what seemed like a lifetime, Emily smiled at him.

"I would like that." She said simply. "I went ahead and put my number inside your book. Call me so we can set a date." She gave Matt one last smile and walked away. Matt just grinned to himself, marveling at his own stupid luck.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

After a month in school, Abby felt she was finally starting to fit in. She was doing well in all of her classes and had a small group of friends that she knew she could count on. And most importantly, she had Connor. Connor had been her best friend since day one, and each day their friendship grew stronger each day. They were constantly together and she'd often spend most of the afternoon at his house, Jack had even started going there afterschool. Things were going great.

Abby and the rest of her friends sat in the auditorium, waiting for the senior meeting Lester had called to start.

"What do you think this is going to be about?" Connor asked Abby as other students filed into the rows.

"Nothing good, I'm sure." Danny volunteered from Abby's other side. "Probably just a friendly announcement that the graduation requirements have changed and we have to stay in school for another year."

"That wouldn't be so bad." Sarah said, thoughtfully on Danny's right side. "I'm having fun so far this year, why would another be so bad?" Danny just sighed.

Abby had realized after two weeks of knowing the pair that they were dating, but she still didn't know why they kept it a secret. She'd tried to ask Becker, but he didn't seem to know they were dating. He said Danny had always told them they were just friends. Abby figured guys didn't notice things like that, but she definitely saw the way they looked at each other, Abby knew they were dating.

"I agree with Danny," Becker added, putting in his input from Connor's left side, "definitely nothing good." Abby just shook her head.

"You guys are being ridiculous," she said with a tone of exasperation, "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Look, Lester is getting ready to say something now."

Abby watched as the head boy, James Lester, took the microphone at the front of the stage.

"Now I just want to start off this meeting by asking everyone to please refrain from groaning during my announcement." At this, Danny, Connor, and Becker let out a simultaneous groan.

"Ya see?" Danny said, looking at Abby, "That almost certainly means this announcement is going to suck."

"I'm sure you'll live." Sarah said in a mocking tone of reassurance. She patted Danny on the hand and Abby saw her hand linger on his for a moment longer than normal. How do Becker and Connor not notice this stuff? She asked herself incredulously. She looked at Lester who had begun to speak again.

"So, with that in mind, this year our class will be required to complete a senior project as one of the requirements to graduate." As Lester finished his sentence, the entire room groaned. Lester sighed.

"I'm sure there was a reason I began by saying I didn't want to hear any groaning, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. Now, as I was saying, the senior projects will be due sometime in March. You will be working in groups of two to four and researching the education systems of foreign countries. There will be several different points and issues that you and your group will need to research and discuss. Your teachers will have the rubrics and guidelines, you are all dismissed." Abby and the rest of her friends got up to leave with the rest of the students.

"The way I see it," Danny began, "Now we've got another problem, aside from the whole, senior project thing."

"What do you mean?" Connor asked, looking at him as they walked back to their classes.

"Well, the groups can be up to four people, right. But there are five of us; someone is going to have to back out."

Becker, who'd barely participated in the conversation, spoke up suddenly.

"I'll go work with someone else," He volunteered immediately. Abby looked at him in surprise, he was almost always with Danny, but Danny just grinned.

"Hoping to get in Jess' group, mate?" He asked with a smirk. Becker reddened instantly.

"Maybe," he shot back defensively, "Or maybe I just want to work with someone smarter than you Danny. I'd hate to have to read every word to you that are bigger than seven letters."

Danny looked shocked at Becker's outburst. "Alright mate," he said calmingly, "I didn't mean anything by it, just making a joke. You can work with whoever you want, I'm sorry."

Becker calmed down at Danny's apology. "I'm sorry Danny; I just got a little worked up, is all. I'm going to go ask Jess if she wants to work together."

As Becker walked off, Danny shook his head.

"That boy has fallen for her bad." He said, watching Becker walk off.

"Aww," Abby teased, "upset that someone has taken your boyfriend away." As Danny was preparing a biting retort, an Irish voice interrupted their conversation.

"Excuse me," a boy said, walking up to the foursome, "My name's Matt Anderson and this is my girlfriend, Emily. We were wondering if any of you wanted to join our group. Emily's new here this year and she wanted the chance to work with someone other than the idiots I hang out with."

As Danny opened his mouth to tell them they were full, Abby cut him off.

"We'll work with you," she volunteered, "I'm Abby and this is Connor. The four of us can work together." She looked over at Danny's look of shock and the slight hurt in Sarah's eyes. "This way, you two can work together." She looked at Sarah, willing her to understand her motive, "Without anyone else." Recognition dawned in her eyes while Danny still looked confused and Connor seemed lost.

"Ok," Sarah said with a small grin. "We'll work together and you four will work together, that's perfect. C'mon Danny, let's let them talk." With that, Sarah led Danny away before he could make a fool of himself.

Connor shot Abby a quizzical look before turning to their new teammates.

"What country do you want to do?" He asked.

"Ireland" Matt replied instantly. "I grew up there and went to school there for years."

Connor grinned. "That's a bit like cheating, I like it. Team Ireland it is." He looked at Abby smiling, "Can we have cool team nicknames." Abby just sighed while Matt and Emily looked like they regretted their choice.

XXXXX

Danny looked at Sarah with confusion as they headed back to their history class.

"What was going on down there?" He asked angrily, "Why'd you let Abby split up the group like that?"

Sarah just sighed, "Because Danny," she said placatingly, "Abby knows there is something between us and she wanted to let us work together."

Danny still wasn't getting it. "How does Abby know anything and why would that mean we can't work with everyone else?"

"Just think about it Danny. If it's just you and me, we can work on it alone, somewhere private." She looked at the understanding on his face. He gave her one of the smirks that she loved so much.

"Oh, so we can study, alone." He grinned at her like a child who's been told they could have the whole cake.

"Yeah, study," she said, looking at him with a smile, "among other things."

XXXXX

The bell was about to ring, signaling the end of the day and Cutter and Stephen were sitting with Jenny and Lester, talking about their project. At Cutter's suggestion, they'd teamed up with the other two, but Stephen knew Cutter really just wanted to spend more time with Jenny. He still couldn't figure out what was going on with Cutter. He didn't know if he was attracted to Jenny, or just trying to be a good friend. Jenny was even harder to read, Stephen had no idea how she felt about Cutter at all, she kept her emotions hidden well.

As the others were talking, Stephen felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a message from Helen. He looked over at Cutter, but he was too busy talking with Jenny to notice the look of guilt that had crossed Stephen's face. He opened the message.

_I want you to work with me on this project._ Stephen shook his head. No one could say Helen wasn't direct.

_I can't, I'm with Cutter_ he sent back. The phone vibrated almost immediately after he sent the text.

_I was with Cutter once, but you didn't seem to mind then. Leave him and work with me._

_Why? Why would I do that? Why do you even want to work with me?_ Stephen responded. Again, the response was almost immediate.

_Because I miss talking to you, just like I miss talking to Cutter. It's that simple._ Stephen scoffed, it never was with Helen.

_No_ he responded finally. The response came back quickly.

_Work with me or I will tell Cutter what we did._ Stephen tried to keep his face calm. He didn't think Helen would tell Cutter, but then again, she was insane, he could never be entirely sure what Helen would do. He gave a small sigh of resignation.

_Fine, you win. I'll meet you afterschool to talk about it._ As he sent the text, the bell rang and people began getting up. Stephen stopped Cutter before he left.

"Hey, um I don't think I'll be able to work with you guys after all, sorry." Cutter looked at him with confusion, but Stephen rushed off before he could ask why. With a bitter taste in his mouth, Stephen went to find Helen.

XXXXX

After school, Becker walked Jess home as usual. They had fallen into an easy rhythm by now, she would talk about her day and Becker would just listen and make the occasional input. Today, however, Becker had something on his mind. As he listened to Jess talk, he debated, as he had all day, the best way to ease into the conversation. Luckily, Jess did it for him.

"So, I'm still trying to find someone to work on this project with." She said casually. "Most of my friends already have full groups and you're working with Danny and the rest of your friends."

Becker saw his opening and took it. "I'm not working with Danny or anyone yet. I was wondering if you wanted to work together." Becker watched Jess' face carefully for any sign of rejection, but to his surprise her whole face brightened at the concept.

"Yeah, that'd be great. I can't wait. I'll see you tomorrow." She said as she walked off happily to her apartment. Becker grinned in spite of himself. Danny would never let him hear the end of it if he knew how happy Becker was right now.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Connor could only describe his life as getting weirder and weirder by the day. Had someone told him two months ago that today he would be walking with a beautiful girl who didn't mind his science fiction obsession, to a home where his mother spoke to him regularly, to work on a project with other people who also seemed to genuinely like him, he would have told them to get their heads examined.

As Connor thought back on the last month and a half of his life, he realized that he had no real complaints. He was happy to see the way his life turned out, happy to no longer be the nerdy boy no one spoke to, and most of all, he was happy just to have Abby. Connor looked over at her as they walked to his house. She was the best friend he'd ever had and, even if she'd never know it, she helped pull him out of a pretty serious depression.

Also, he was very, very in love with her. Connor couldn't help it, even though he knew that she would never think of him in that way, he still loved her. He loved how strong she was, even when things got bad at her house, he loved how protective she was over Jack, who spent so much time at Connor's house that he thought of him as a little brother. But most importantly, he loved that she took him as he was, she didn't want him to change his nerdiness, or act like someone else, she just liked him for a reason he could never understand. As they got to his house, Abby caught him smiling at nothing in particular.

"What're you grinning at?" she asked curiously.

Connor froze as he reached for the knob, but he recovered quickly. "Just excited to finally get started on this project is all." He replied, keeping his voice calm.

"Oh," Abby said, taken aback at his unusual willingness to work, "Well, do you know when Matt and Emily will be here?"

"Matt said they had to stop by his house for something, and that they'd be here soon." Connor said as he and Abby walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, are more of your friends coming by?" Connor's mother asked from the living room.

Connor was still having trouble coming to terms with his mother's recent good moods and attempts to make up for the past. While they still had their occasional bad days, things were going exceptionally smoother between them. Especially since Abby and Jack started coming over every afternoon and staying for dinner most nights.

After having been friends for a few weeks, Abby finally confided in Connor that her father was an alcoholic who spent most nights out at bars, leaving her to care for Jack most nights. When she started coming over in the afternoons, they would have to stop by her house and let Jack in, until Connor finally suggested that Jack just come over as well. Connor's mother took to him immediately and treated him like a second son. Abby just assumed that she had always been like this, but Connor knew it was his mother's way of trying to atone for how she'd treated Connor when he was that age. Connor also found that he was very happy with the way Jack was treated. He'd taken to Abby's little brother and often thought of himself as Jack's big brother, often making sure he'd done his homework and helping him with what he didn't understand. Eventually, the siblings just started staying for dinner most evenings, Abby helping Ms. Temple cook while Connor occupied Jack.

And while Connor was very happy with the new arrangement, his joy was nothing next to the joy he could tell his mother got from having the Maitlands around. She'd gone from having one child who she barely knew, to three children who she made it her mission to find out about every evening at dinner. Connor could see the change in his mother and it made him happier than he'd been at his house in a long time.

When Matt and Emily finally showed up, the four of them sat around the kitchen table, talking casually and trying to brainstorm ideas on the best ways to research and present the information. But eventually, the conversations got off topic.

"All I'm saying," Connor continued persuasively, "is that we need cool team nicknames. Matt, you could be the professional, 'cuz you know all about the school system, and I could be-"

"So, how did you two meet?" Abby asked, cutting Connor off suddenly and trying to restore normalcy to the conversation.

"It was all by chance, really," Emily said lightly, "Matt tried to run me over in the hallway, and then felt bad because I'm a girl. There's really not that much to tell. But what about you two, how did you get together?"

Abby gave a little splutter, "Connor and I, he's not, I mean, we're not dating." Abby said finally. Connor tried to hide how much that hurt. Did she have to sound so uncomfortable with the concept? Connor often liked to fantasize about them dating. He imagined it would be like it was now, only with more kissing and hand holding. He quite liked the idea; he just knew Abby didn't feel the same way.

Emily looked embarrassed at her mistake. Matt quickly stepped in.

"Looks like we've got to go," He said, standing up. "I promised Emily I'd watch _The Notebook_ with her tonight, and we need to head back so we have time. We'll see you tomorrow."

Connor stood up and walked them to the door.

"Sorry about that mate," Matt began, "We'd just assumed…"

"I understand, it's fine." Connor told him reassuringly, "Don't worry about it. Enjoy _The Notebook_."

"Oh, I'll try." Matt responded with a forced smile. "See you at school, Temple." Connor watched them walk off and then walked back to Abby. She was holding her head in her hands when he walked in. She looked up in surprise.

"Hey," she said calmly, "I'm going to grab Jack and we'll head home."

"Aren't you going to stay for dinner?" Connor asked, surprised.

"Not tonight Conn, sorry. We have to be at home some time, you know that."

"Ok," Connor said, trying to keep the sadness from his voice, "I can walk you home if you like." He offered hopefully.

"It's fine, you don't have to."

"I don't mind."

"Just leave it Connor!" Abby snapped suddenly. "Jack, get your stuff, we need to go." Abby stormed past him and out the door, leaving Jack to hurry behind her. Connor sat at the table, trying to keep a straight face as his mother walked into the room.

"What's wrong?" She asked, sitting down across from him. "What got Abby all upset?"

"I don't know," Connor replied earnestly, "one minute we're fine, then Emily assumed we were a couple, and Abby got upset and left. I don't know what I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything" his mother reassured him, "Abby's got a lot of issues to work out. We talk a lot, me and her, while you are playing with Jack. There's a lot of things in her past she'll need to work through and you'll just have to be there for her when she needs you, and be willing to forgive the abuse when she gives it. God knows you're good at forgiveness." She smiled at him as she got up. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you most of your life, but I want you to know that I'm here for you now. Any time you need to talk, you know where to find me." She left the kitchen, heading for her room, leaving Connor alone with his thoughts.

XXXXX

Abby Maitland sat in her room, doing the one thing she swore she'd never do again, crying over a boy. Throughout her life, she'd always been attracted to the guys who would use her, hurt her, and then leave her. She knew it was an unhealthy habit, but she couldn't stop. As soon as one buy left her, another took his place within a week. But then she'd moved here, and everything was going better. She had friends who didn't drag her out to parties every night and encourage her to drink and smoke. Now she had friends whose idea of a good night was pizza and a bad movie. And Abby was happy.

But now she'd ruined it. She'd messed up the best part of her new life, Connor. She'd known it wouldn't last forever, and she'd also known she'd be the one to ruin everything between them. Connor was the best friend Abby had ever had, and she loved him.

The realization hit her one day when they were sitting at his table. She'd had a rough day at school and was sitting down with her head buried in her arms telling him about it while he moved around the kitchen. As she finished explaining everything that had gone wrong that day, Connor set something down in front of her. She looked up to see a bag of her favorite chocolates that Connor had bought for her earlier in the week. She'd been so overcome with emotion that she couldn't think of anything to say. As Connor began stumbling over an apology, thinking he'd gotten the wrong chocolate, Abby had rushed up and wrapped him in a tight hug.

He was so different from the other guys she'd spent any time with in the past. He genuinely cared about her, so much so that he made sure to have her favorite chocolate in case of a bad day. It was all of the little things that Connor did that made her realize how much she loved him. But now she'd ruined it.

Her mind went back to the conversation with Emily and Matt. When Emily assumed they were together, Abby had been so quick to correct her. She'd seen the hurt in Connor's eyes, like he thought she didn't even want to be associated with him. Even though he would never admit it, Abby knew his biggest insecurity was his sense of worth, and she'd made his feel worthless. Then, she'd yelled at him and ran away. She had hurt Connor, something she's said she would never do. Abby knew he would never talk to her again, and she didn't blame him.

Abby heard someone opening the front door and checked her watch. It read 1:30 in the morning, which meant it was just about time for her drunken father to stumble home. Surprisingly, she heard his footsteps shuffling her way. His bedroom and bathroom were in the other side of the house, he wouldn't need to come over here for any other reason than to see them, and he shouldn't have any reason to see her or Jack. Curious, Abby got out of bed and went to open her door, intent on looking into the hallway and seeing what her father wanted.

XXXXX

_Connor was sitting in a large room, facing a collection of computer screens. He looked around and saw Danny, Becker, and Sarah standing by a tube-like object that looked to be about three feet long and shaped like a hexagon. As he got up, intent on studying the strange artifact closer, Abby walked up to him, smiling. Before she could open her mouth, a loud blaring went off over hidden speakers and the computer screens flashed red. Connor looked around in confusion as everyone began rushing into action. As Connor listened to the alarm closer, he realized it sounded a lot like his phone._

Connor sat up suddenly, trying to get untangled from his sheets as he reached for his phone in the darkness of his room. It's 2 am, he thought wildly, who's calling at 2 am? He finally reached his phone and read the caller id.

"Abby?" he muttered under his breath. He knew nothing good could come of her calling this early and he only hoped she was ok. He answered the phone quickly.

"Hullo?" he asked

"Connor, oh thank god you picked up, I didn't know who else I could go to." Abby said frantically. Connor thought she sounded like she'd been crying and he thought he could hear Jack sniffling in the background.

"Abby, calm down, tell me what's wrong."

"It was my dad, he just… I can't talk about it now, please, we need somewhere to go, just for tonight. Please Connor, we don't have anywhere else."

Connor's heart was tearing itself apart with worry and his mother's earlier words about being there for Abby echoed in his head.

"Of course you can come over." He said instantly, "Do you want me to come get you?"

Abby gave a short humorless laugh. "If you could just come down and let us in, that'd be good."

"Ok, I'll be right down." Connor said, hanging up the phone. Although he was terrified of what could have scared Abby this much, a smaller part of him was happy that she knew he would do anything for her, no matter what happened previously in the day.

He headed down the steps to the door in his customary night clothes of t shirt and boxers. He thought about getting more clothes on, but he knew Abby wouldn't care and whatever was wrong seemed important. He pulled open the door and was immediately hit by simultaneous waves of sadness, fear, and anger as he looked at Abby, her arms encircled protectively around Jack and sporting a fresh black eye and split lip.

All he could get out was a strangled, "Abby" before he enveloped her in a tight embrace, Jack stuck between them. As he held her on his doorstep, he could feel her shaking in his arms and felt rage like he'd never felt before bubble up in him. He wanted to find out whoever did this to her and tear them apart, limb from limb.

After Connor held her comfortingly for another five minutes, she moved away from him and he moved back to let the siblings inside. He looked at Jack properly with the better lighting in the kitchen, but he seemed unharmed, just scared. The boy, who'd always been small, looked so much more fragile standing there in his Transformers pajamas, shaking with cold, exhaustion, and fear.

"Jack, why don't you go on upstairs and sleep in my bed." Connor suggested to the boy. Jack looked at Abby, as if questioning if he could trust anyone but her. She nodded and hugged her brother tightly. Jack hugged her back and walked up the stairs to Connor's bedroom. Connor led Abby into the living room and sat down next to her on the couch, keeping his arm protectively around her. They sat on the couch quietly for what felt like a lifetime.

"If you want to talk, I'll listen." He said finally, "If not, then I'll just be here for you to lean on for support."

Abby looked up at him with admiration in her eyes. "Thank you Connor, for everything. I'll tell you what happened, but not now, not tonight. Please, just hold me for now."

Connor looked at Abby in his arms. She was the strongest, bravest person he knew, but tonight she needed him to be the strong one and for him to provide her with comfort and security. Connor simply tightened his grip around her as she rested her head against his chest.

"It's going to be alright." Connor told her reassuringly, "I'm here and I'll never let anyone hurt you again."

**AN:** So for whatever reason, I can fit all of my other pairings into one chapter, but my Conby always takes up twice as much space and usually involves some sort of physical or emotional abuse. I'm sure that's a mental condition of some kind. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this and please review.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Abby woke up feeling fuzzy and disoriented. She tried to figure out where she was without opening her eyes. The night before was a hazy blur, she couldn't remember anything past going home with Jack. Then she realized she was sleeping on someone's chest, sitting on a couch. Abby tried frantically to remember what happened the night before. Suddenly it all came back in a rush, her father, going to Connor's, sleeping next to him. She reached up and tenderly felt her black eye and split lip from her father's blows.

"We'll need to put some ice on that." A familiar female voice said from across the room. Abby shot up instantly as she looked at Connor's mum.

"Ms. Temple, I'm sorry, I didn't know where else to go, Jack and I just needed somewhere to sleep, we'll leave, I'm sorry." Abby apologized in a rush.

Ms. Temple just looked at her sadly. "It's fine Abby. Really, I'm glad you came here. Did your father do that?"

Abby nodded and got up to talk with the older woman without waking Connor. As they walked into the kitchen, Abby saw the daylight streaming in from outside.

"What time is it?" She asked suddenly, "I've got to get Jack to school, and I've got to get ready." As she began getting worried, Ms. Temple placed her hand on Abby's shoulder reassuringly.

"You're not going to school today, Abby." She said calmly, "Not like that. And Jack can stay home today and sleep in as well; it'll do you both a world of good. In answer to your question, it's nine thirty. How long have you been here?"

"Since two in the morning," Abby admitted. "I called Connor and he let us in. Thank you for letting us stay. Connor's a good guy; you did a good job raising him." Abby noticed a look of sadness cross over Ms. Temple's face as she responded cryptically, "Yes, someone did."

As if knowing that someone was talking about him, Connor walked into the kitchen, looking at the pair of them. He immediately sat down next to Abby and took her hand.

"How are you feeling?" he asked with concern. Abby tried to answer, but was too preoccupied with him holding her hand. Somehow, it just felt natural. She realized that she had been quiet for too long and Connor was beginning to look worried that he'd done something wrong. He tried to pull his hand away, but Abby tightened her grip and smiled at him.

"I'm better, Connor, thank you." She said, smiling at him. His face relaxed and he returned her smile. His mother stood up.

"I'm going to check on Jack. Connor, you don't have to go to school today either, but you do have to put pants on soon." Connor nodded, getting up as well.

"I'll get you some ice for your eye," he said, moving over to the refrigerator. Abby smiled as she watched him moving around the kitchen. He had been there for her, through everything. Even after she yelled at him yesterday, he was still here, taking care of her. Last night, he'd made her feel safe and comforted, with no hesitation at all. He'd held her the entire night, and he never left her side. She loved him, and now she was sure he felt the same way.

"Connor," she began as he set down a bag of ice, "I-" but the rest of her sentence was cut off by Jack, who came running into the kitchen and into her arms. She held him as he shook, remembering the night before.

"It's ok, Jack." She said comfortingly, "I'm here and I'll take care of you."

"So will I," Connor said suddenly, standing behind Jack and placing a hand on his shoulder, "I won't let anything bad happen to either of you again." Once again, Abby was overcome with emotion and she felt herself begin to cry. She wasn't alone anymore, now she had Connor. Connor moved next to her and held her as she cried with equal parts of fear and happiness.

XXXXX

They were back in his room now, and Connor was starting to get nervous. He and Abby had stayed home all day with Jack, and Abby had seemed like she'd had something on her mind the whole day. Finally, she'd told him that she wanted to talk to him alone, so they'd gone up to his room. Now Connor was beginning worry about whatever she wanted to say. He was sure that she wanted to clarify that they were just friends, and that he shouldn't try to hold her hand again, or get as close as they were last night. Connor knew she'd needed his support, but now, she'd want the usual distance again. He had just about resigned himself to his role as her best friend and nothing more when she asked him to sit next to her on the bed.

"Connor," Abby began slowly, "We really need to talk about something important."

"I know what you're gonna say, Abby," Connor said sadly.

"You do?" Abby asked with surprise.

"Yeah, I know you don't want me to hold your hand all the time, I just thought you needed the extra support this morning. I know we're just friends and that's-"

"Connor, shut up. I love you." Abby blurted out suddenly, stopping him mid-sentence.

Connor's entire mind froze. Abby loved him? Out of all the guys she could date, she wanted him? He couldn't wrap his mind around it, yet his heart was close to bursting out of his chest. He realized Abby was watching him expectantly, but he couldn't make his mouth form the words. Instead he leaned in and kissed her, drawing her body closer with one arm and placing the other tenderly on her face.

Abby responded in kind, turning to face him and running her fingers through his hair. They held each other like this for several minutes before Abby broke away. She looked up at him and he felt her love pouring out of her gaze. He felt the same way. He grinned at her.

"So," he began with a cheeky grin, "Now can we tell Emily how we got together?" She laughed and leaned in to kiss him again.

**AN:** So, there you go. Conby at last, hope you liked it. There will be other people in the next chapter, I promise. Probably Jecker, but no promises. Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Where do you think Abby and Connor were today?" Danny asked Sarah as they sat in her room researching South Africa's school system on Wikipedia.

"I dunno; have you tried texting either of them?" She replied as she scrolled through the information. "Or were you just going to sit here and wonder all day?" Danny grinned as he pulled out his phone. "That's why I like having you around, you can do all the thinking, and I can make the jokes." He gave her a cheeky grin as he sent a rapid text to Connor asking where he was and if Abby was with him.

Sarah continued to read through the mass information on Wikipedia while Danny looked over her shoulder and pretended to read it. Truthfully, he really didn't want to do any of the senior project now. If he could have his way, he'd be doing it the week before, but Sarah insisted that they get it done early and he really didn't want to make her mad. So he contented himself with pretending to read over her shoulder. As if she could read his mind, Sarah spoke up without looking away from the screen.

"I know you're not reading anything. It's fine for now, but you're taking me to see the new Nicholas Sparks movie to reward my hard work."

"How could you possibly know I wasn't reading?" Danny asked, looking at her in amazement. "And you know I hate Nicholas Sparks."

"Simple, I'm your girlfriend, I always know. And yes, I know you hate Nicholas Sparks, that's why it's your punishment. Now, what did Connor say?" As Sarah finished speaking, Danny noticed his phone lighting up. He grabbed it with gusto and opened Connor's text.

"He says that Abby wasn't feeling well and he stayed home with her today." Danny read, "Aww, how sweet. Those two need to get together already, I'm tired of waiting."

Sarah laughed, "I'll say, they're perfect for each other, one of them just needs to make the first move."

"I'm telling Connor that." Danny said suddenly, "I'm just going to tell him to kiss her right now, no excuses."

"Danny," Sarah admonished as he hit send, "You can't just send him stuff like that."

"Why not?" Danny asked with a smirk. "I send it to him every night anyways. I even got Becker to do the same thing. We text him encouraging comments telling him to make a move every night."

Sarah laughed suddenly, "Oh good, I text Abby every night and tell her to tell Connor how she feels. It's good to know we all want what's best for them, even if they don't know it yet."

Danny's phone lit up again and as he checked the message, his jaw dropped.

"Sarah," He said weakly, "Can you read this for me to make sure I saw it right." Sarah took the phone and read the message out loud.

"I did," she read, "I did what? What did you tell him to do?" She asked Danny. Suddenly it came to her. "You told him to, but he wouldn't, but he said." She stammered incoherently. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, signaling a text. She looked and saw it was Abby. She opened it immediately to see if she would confirm Connor's text.

_I told Connor he could tell Danny, so I'm telling you, even though Danny probably already told you while you were "working". Connor and I are now official. I told him I loved him and he kissed me. And before you ask, he didn't do it because Danny told him, he did it hours ago. I'll fill you in on the rest of the details tomorrow, see you then._

Sarah looked at the text in amazement, Danny's face matching hers.

"Well," Danny said finally, "I guess Becker owes me five pounds."

XXXXX

As Becker sat in Jess' overly girly room for the first time, his phone vibrated. Jess was busy checking some things in her e-mail, so Becker read the new text from Danny.

_You owe me a fiver_ Becker read the text and immediately went over the list of ongoing bets the pair had between them.

_You did not get the shop girl's number_ he texted back after a moment, _she's in her mid-twenties and had no interest in you._ Becker waited a moment before Danny texted back again.

_Not that bet, Connor and Abby are official, Connor kissed her._ Becker grinned to himself, it was about time for those two, they needed to be together from day one. Jess looked over at him grinning and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really," Becker replied, "Two of my friends finally got together and I just found out."

"Oh," Jess said happily, "that's so sweet. Who are they? Would I know them?"

"It's Connor Temple and Abby Maitland." Becker said casually, "Do you?"

"No." Jess replied sadly, "Are they nice?"

Becker frowned at what he thought was a weird question. "Yeah, Connor's one of the nicest guys I know. And Abby's pretty cool as well. What about your friends?"

"I don't really hang out with that many people outside of school. I really don't even hang out with that many people in school. I just like to study and have a quiet night in. At first I had friends that tried to make me go to parties, but I never had much fun. You're really the only person I talk to after school."

"You can hang out with us, if you want." Becker said impulsively, "We usually just get pizza and watch movies together on the weekends."

Jess brightened up at the prospect. "Yeah, I'd like that a lot." Becker grinned at the idea of getting to spend more time with Jess outside of school.

"Here we go," Jess said, pulling up Google on her computer. "We can start by looking at the requirements for people graduating that are the same age as we are."

Becker watched as Jess typed in 'graduation requirements for Americans born in 1997'. Becker frowned at the screen.

"Jess, we were born in '94." He said slowly, "Not '97."

"I was born in 1997." Jess replied casually. Becker did the math in his head and frowned again.

"But that would make you 14." He said incredulously. "I thought you were a senior?"

"I am a senior, I just moved up in several grades." She looked over at him and smiled, "I'm very smart." Becker looked at her astonished, he'd always assumed she just looked young for her age, now it turned out she was just young.

"I never knew that about you." Becker told her, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Jess shrugged, "It just never came up, besides, I don't like to talk about it, it intimidates some people. Me being so young and in the same year as they are, it makes me look like I think I'm better, so I don't talk about it."

They sat in silence for a moment, looking through different websites before Jess spoke up.

"And speaking of not saying anything, why haven't you told me your first name? I know Becker's your last name because all of your ROTC friends call you Becker too, and they always go by last name. So now you know I'm fourteen, what is your first name?"

Becker sighed; she was going to find out sooner or later.

"Hilary" he mumbled, looking down.

Jess looked confused, "What did you say it was?"

"Hilary." Becker responded louder, "My first name is Hilary, I don't know why my parents gave it to me, but there it is. I'm Hilary Becker."

Jess laughed, more out of surprise than anything else, but Becker was still hurt.

"Look," he said angrily, "it has one L, it's masculine."

"I know, I know," she said placating, "It's just a little funny, you know. You always act so tough, but it's because you have a girl's name."

"I don't act tough because I have a girl's name," Becker responded, getting angrier, "I am tough, end of discussion. Besides, at least I don't sit at home all the time because no one wants to spend time with me because I'm fourteen." Becker got up quickly, grabbed his bag, and left, noticing the hurt look on Jess' face as he did.

As he rushed out of the apartment, shame hit Becker like a wave. He'd just yelled at a friend for laughing at his name. Everyone laughed at his name, Danny had rolled around on the floor he was laughing so hard when he heard it. Becker turned around before he'd gotten halfway down the street.

He marched himself back into her apartment, through the hallway and into her room. She looked up in surprise at Becker's sudden intrusion.

"I'm sorry." They both said simultaneously after a moment of silence. Becker was taken aback at her apology.

"You're sorry? What are you sorry for?" He asked.

"I laughed at your name, a friend shouldn't do that." She responded sadly. Becker looked at her incredulously.

"I have a girl's name." he said, noting her look of astonishment at his admission, "It's hilarious. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you at all. I was way out of line. I'm sorry, please forgive me." Jess looked surprised at his statement.

"Of course I forgive you," she said quickly, "do you forgive me?"

"Of course," Becker replied, "You were right to laugh, it is pretty funny." He gave her a reassuring smile and she returned it eagerly.

"Good," she said finally, "because we still have work to do tonight." Becker grinned as he sat down next to her to work on their project together.

XXXXX

As Danny grabbed his bag and prepared to head home, Sarah steeled herself to ask him the question she'd been avoiding for weeks. He gave her a quick kiss and began heading out the door.

"Danny," Sarah called quickly, "there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Shoot." Danny replied, ambling casually back to her.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" she asked in a rush. Danny grinned

"You mean like, a meet-the-parents stay for dinner?" He asked with a smile.

Sarah nodded, looking down, "I understand if you don't want to, it's fine."

Sarah looked at the floor, expecting Danny to try and get out of dinner, but to her surprise he tilted her chin up to meet his eyes.

"I would love to stay and meet your family." He said with a smile. "But won't they get mad if you're springing a dinner guest on them last minute?"

"I may have told them two weeks ago that you were coming over," Sarah admitted, "I've just been waiting for a good moment to tell you."

Danny laughed, "Well as long as you didn't wait until the day of." He joked with a grin. "Do I have time to go home and change?" Sarah nodded, cursing inwardly that she didn't think of him needing clothes for dinner and wishing she'd told him sooner so he'd be ready. Danny gave her a scrutinizing look.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking concerned.

"I just want everything to go well tonight." She admitted, looking at him with worry.

"It will, don't worry." Danny said calmly, "Everything will be fine, I promise."

Sarah nodded as he kissed her again and began walking out of the door.

"I'll see you soon." He said as he walked. Sarah could only nod and head back inside to get ready.

**AN:** I'm not that great at writing other couples, but here you go. Please review and let me know what you think.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** Ok, confession time. For one thing, the Jecker seems a lot creepier now that Jess is fourteen, even though the age difference is much larger in the show, it's different as adults. So I'm now going on the record as changing Jess' age to 15. Still younger than everyone else, but somehow that extra year makes it seem slightly more acceptable. One more good reason why I should plan my chapters more than one at a time. I'd also like to say I think I might have jumped the shark on Conby, and for that I apologize. Finally, I'm starting to run out of steam and ideas on this story. I've still got some up my sleeve, but I might not write their entire year. Just giving everyone a warning in advance. I think I've gotten everything off my chest that I needed to, so please excuse this obnoxiously long Author's Note and enjoy the chapter. And review, for the love of all that is holy, please review. It gives me the drive to write anything; otherwise, I'd just sit around all day and read the fanfiction of people with better motivation than I have, so review.

**Chapter 12**

Danny sat at the Page's dinner table, making small talk with Sarah's parents. He honestly didn't see why she was so worried about him meeting them; they were getting along just fine. During a lull in the conversation, Danny decided to begin messing with Sarah, just to give her something to be exasperated with him for later. Danny knew that even though she denied it, she secretly loved his occasional childish antics.

While Sarah's parents were talking to each other about their respective days, Danny quietly slipped his shoes off under the table. Keeping his eyes focused on his plate, he stretched his leg underneath the table to Sarah, sitting across from him, and lightly ran his foot up her leg. The effect was instantaneous. She froze immediately; fork paused in mid-air, halfway to her mouth.

She glared over at Danny, who smiled innocently back as he ran his foot back down again. Her father looked over at her and began asking questions.

"So Sarah," He asked, "How's that senior project been going?"

Danny allowed himself a small smile as Sarah tried to answer while keeping a straight face, as Danny was still caressing her leg with his foot.

"It's- It's been going well," she stammered as Danny used both feet, enjoying the struggle she was having to keep her composure. "Danny could tell you more." She added, trying to switch the attention over to Danny.

"It's been a cake walk so far, sir" Danny answered easily, while still moving his feet. "Your daughter is smart enough to do this entire project without me. Why she puts up with me is a real mystery." As he finished, Danny suddenly remembered Sarah had an older brother, she knew how to hurt a guy while not causing permanent pain, a fact she demonstrated by grabbing hold of his leg hair and pulling as hard as she could under the table. Danny gave a little squeak of pain while Sarah smiled sweetly at him. Recognizing defeat, Danny withdrew.

Her father, missing the entire exchange, carried on the conversation.

"Yes, she is quite smart, my Sarah." He said with a doting glance at his daughter, "It's really a marvel that she hasn't had many boyfriends." Danny saw Sarah's eyes suddenly widen in fear. Danny tried to understand what her father meant.

"I always got the impression from Sarah that you didn't want her dating in school." Danny said casually.

"I have no problem with it." Mr. Page said, looking surprised, "Now, I'm fine with her not dating, mind you, but I'd have no problem with it if she wanted to bring home a guy for us to meet." Danny shot Sarah a quizzical look, but she looked down immediately.

"I'm done, I have to go." She said, getting up hurriedly from the table. "I'll see you tomorrow Danny." She said, rushing off in the direction of her room.

After dinner was finished, Danny's sensible side, which sounded like Becker, told him to go home and give Sarah time to relax before calling her and finding out what was going on. Unfortunately, by the time his sensible side was done producing this idea, Danny was already knocking on Sarah's bedroom door.

"Sarah," he called softly, knowing he was probably asking for trouble, "Sarah, it's Danny, can I come in? I think we need to talk."

"No." She replied stubbornly, "I don't want to talk right now, Danny. I'll see you tomorrow." Danny sighed. He was not going to be pushed away this easily.

"Fine," he called back through the door, "I'll just come in and sit with you until you want to talk, that works for me just fine."

"You can't come in." She said defiantly, "I locked my door. I'll see you tomorrow."

Danny just grinned to himself as he pulled his father's old lock picking set from his pocket. When he was thirteen, Danny's father, a police officer who had been on the force for ten years and counting at the time, had shown him how to pick locks and given him a spare lock picking kit with the instructions to only use it in an emergency. Danny began picking the lock on Sarah's door, internally qualifying his situation as an emergency.

The look on Sarah's face was priceless. She had been sitting on her bed with her head in her hands when Danny strode into the room confidently, trying to look as masculine as possible. Her face was a perfect combination of shock and relief. Shock that he would barge unceremoniously into her room, but relief that he was going to make her have this conversation right then, without letting her push it away.

Danny sat down next to her on the bed and tenderly put his arm around Sarah. When she didn't shrug it off, he took it as a good sign.

"So," He began, trying to keep his voice as casual as possible. "Your parents aren't as strict as I thought they would be. Why is that, exactly?"

Sarah gave a humorless laugh. "Because I lied."

Now it was Danny's turn to laugh. "I figured that out, thanks." He replied with a smirk. "Why did you lie? That was the part I was interested in."

"I had guys chasing after me for years because they thought I was pretty, then, when they got to know me, they didn't want anything to do with me because I made much better grades than they did. It made them feel inferior, so they left me. After a while, I got tired of being hurt, so I started telling people that my parents didn't want me dating. Then you came along and now, here we are."

Danny looked at her with astonishment. He'd never known any of this about her before, but he'd never asked before.

"So why didn't you tell me?" He asked finally, "After you realized I loved you for more than your looks, why didn't you tell me it didn't have to be a secret?"

Sarah looked down at her hands, which were fidgeting in her lap. "I was afraid you wouldn't want to be seen with me, that I was too nerdy for someone like you."

Danny put his hands over hers, stopping her from continuing to fidget. She looked up at him and he gave her a reassuring smile.

"I would never be embarrassed for people to see you as my girlfriend. In fact, I'm more amazed that you would want people to see you with me. After all, I can be a bit of a clown."

Sarah gave him a genuine smile, "Well that's part of why I love you Danny. And if you really are ok with it, I want to tell people we're dating. I want everyone to know."

Danny gave her a smirk as he held her hand tighter. "Maybe we should start by telling your parents that they've already met your boyfriend and it's taken you six months to introduce us."

Sarah returned his smile and got up from the bed, pulling Danny with her. Danny just grinned and tried to imagine the looks of shock on Becker, Connor, and Abby's faces when he and Sarah walked in to school tomorrow.

XXXXX

Abby woke up from her sleep in Connor's bed, Jack curled up tightly beside her. She groaned and checked Connor's bedside clock. It read 7:15am, which meant it was time to get up, something she signaled to Jack by giving him a quick shake. He groaned and put his head under the pillow. Abby shrugged and got up, intending to go downstairs to get breakfast.

After the painful and traumatizing attempts of the day before last, Abby couldn't bring herself to go home. She had always prided herself on not being afraid of anything, but going home scared her more than anything else had before. She had only managed a quick jaunt inside to grab some clothes and other necessities because Connor had been there. He seemed fiercely protective over her, checking each door before she entered to make sure her father wasn't home. Though at the time she'd acted exasperated, she was secretly thrilled that he cared that much. Thankfully, her father wasn't home and Ms. Temple had no problem with the Maitland siblings staying the night. Connor had given up his bed in favor of the couch, so she had shared his bed with Jack.

Abby walked downstairs, inhaling the smell of bacon. She walked in to see the surprising sight of Connor standing at the stove while his mum sat at the kitchen table, reading the paper.

"Morning Abs," Connor called cheerily over his shoulder, "breakfast is coming right up and there's fresh coffee in the pot." Abby poured herself a cup as she sat down across from Ms. Temple.

"I didn't expect to see you doing the cooking, Connor." Abby admitted, looking at him. Connor gave her an exaggerated look of hurt.

"I'll have you know I am an excellent cook." He said indignantly.

"It's true," His mother added, looking over her paper. "If you dropped Connor off in the middle of the woods, he'll be able to whip you up a delicious meal of nothing but roots and bulbs."

"I could be like one of those celebrity chefs," Connor mused, "Sell a cookbook, _One Hundred and One Ways to Cook Roots and Bulbs_."

Abby just laughed, "Well before you start writing your cookbook, you might want to do something about your burning bacon."

Connor turned back to the stove with a start and began trying to salvage breakfast.

Later in the morning as they were almost to the front yard of the school, Abby took Connor's hand. She didn't think anything of it, but she could see the massive grin that spread across Connor's face as they walked onto the campus.

Connor began steering them towards the side of the building where they usually met up with Danny, Sarah, and Becker before school. She knew he wanted to show off that he was cool enough to get a girlfriend, and strangely, Abby didn't mind. She knew how important Connor's self-image was to himself, and she liked being the girlfriend someone was proud of, instead of the one they picked up at a party the night before. As they walked up to the others, Connor called a greeting to Becker, who was standing with a girl Abby hadn't seen before. As they walked up, the girl looked in their direction with a grin.

"I guess this is Abby and Connor." She said brightly, looking at Becker. "I'm Jess Parker, by the way. Becker told me I should come and hang out with you guys because I don't talk to many people during school."

"Well hi," Connor replied, "I'm Abby and this is Connor."

Abby shot him a glare while Jess looked at Becker with confusion.

"He's just being an idiot." Becker said calmly, "He's much too pretty to be Abby and he knows it."

Abby laughed as she noticed how protective Becker seemed to be over Jess. But her thoughts on Becker and Jess were cut short as Danny and Sarah walked up, holding hands.

Becker saw them first. "If I'd known today was bring your new girlfriend day, I would have gotten one and brought her." He quipped at Danny.

"I though you did." Danny shot back, not to be beaten.

Abby saw Becker stiffen and look at Jess. "She's not, I'm not." He stammered, looking back at Danny with anger. "I have stuff to do before my first class, I'll see you guys later." With that, he rushed off into the building.

Abby noticed Jess looked slightly hurt before her face went back into its seemingly perpetual smile. Abby decided to change the subject before Danny could say anything to make her upset as well, but Connor beat her to it.

"So you heard about me dating my best friend and thought you'd give it a try, eh?" He asked Danny with a cheeky grin. Danny scoffed.

"Sarah and I have been dating for months, Connor." Danny replied with a satisfied smirk. "We just didn't tell you because I didn't want to make you jealous." Danny ended his comment with a grin to let Connor know he didn't mean any harm.

Connor just grinned back and said, "Are you sure Sarah didn't just want to avoid people thinking you were dating? I mean, she used to have standards."

As Danny and Connor walked ahead, trading insults and jokes, Abby fell back to talk with Sarah and Jess.

"So, have you and Danny really been dating for months?" She asked curiously.

"Yep," Sarah replied happily, "I didn't want him to just like me just for my looks, so I told him my parents didn't want me to date. He suggested a secret relationship, and we've been doing that for months. I have him over for dinner one time, and my dad spills the beans. Danny still wanted to be with me, so we went public."

Jess sighed, "That's so romantic. No one ever asks me out, even for a secret relationship."

"Becker seems interested." Abby suggested, "You should ask him out. Trust me; he'd never do it himself."

"Why not?" Jess asked, looking nervous, "Am I not as pretty as the girls he usually dates?"

"No, that's not it," Sarah replied calmingly, "I've never even seen Becker date anyone as it is. Besides, you're prettier than most girls here."

"Becker is a very take-charge action man type of person, but he's useless with emotions," Abby added, patting Jess on the shoulder in a big sister type of way. "You will probably have to lay out exactly how you feel for him."

"But what if he doesn't feel the same way?" Jess asked with a bit of fear, "What if he just wants to be friends?"

"I'm sure he doesn't," Abby said calmingly, "I've seen the way he looks and talks to you. He's definitely got feelings for you; he's just not good at expressing them."

"Ok," Jess said, trying to look confident, "I'll tell him after school today."

"Good," Abby said encouragingly, "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to go be Connor's girlfriend for a minute, I'm sure he wants to show off how lucky he is." She added with a smirk.

"Right behind you," Sarah said, seeing Danny up ahead. The two girls walked off to their respective boyfriends, leaving Jess to go to her class, her mind full of thoughts about Becker.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN:** Firstly, sorry for the delay. My computer's been acting funny, so typing this had to wait while I fixed it, sorry. Also, I have decided that _Primeval High_ will be drawing to a close soon. I need to tie up a few loose ends, and then I have one final hoorah planned. But after that, I'll retire this story and shamelessly promote my next ones. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review.

**Chapter 13**

After his first class, Becker walked out into the hallways, automatically scanning the crowds for Jess. Usually after their first period, he would walk her to her next class, claiming it was on his way, and then sprint across the school to his second period, barely making it on time. It did make for a very interesting transition period. Today, however, he didn't see her walking towards him. His heart sunk. She was probably angry with him for leaving her that morning. Becker felt like a complete idiot, Danny was just making a joke and he'd frozen up. Becker still couldn't believe he'd run away like that, leaving poor Jess standing alone and confused. No wonder she didn't want to walk with him.

As he turned to go to his class, anticipating the look of surprise Mr. Jones would give him when he showed up early and not out of breath, Becker caught sight of Jess, standing next to the row of lockers, talking with someone. Becker felt hope rise up inside him. Maybe she was just talking, not angry with him. As he walked over to her, he saw exactly whom Jess was talking to.

As he saw Wilder, he felt revulsion and anger well up in him. Becker had never liked Wilder; he always took the JROTC rank to seriously and was a strict authoritarian, often punishing the new recruits for things they didn't know they had to do yet. As Becker walked up beside Jess, he automatically put his arm protectively around her shoulders and gave Wilder a slightly hostile look.

"Can I help you, Becker?" Wilder asked, venom in his voice.

"Not at all, sir." Becker replied, putting extra emphasis on the _sir_, "I was just here to walk Jess to class, can I help you?"

"I can walk her to class so you're not late," Wilder said, still glaring at Becker, "why don't you just go along."

"That's fine," Jess interjected, "You don't have to walk with me Dan, it's on Becker's way."

Becker feelings of joy rose again. Jess wanted to walk with him, not Wilder. But Wilder was persistent.

"Well maybe I could see you again." Wilder suggested, "Perhaps for dinner."

"Umm, no, that's fine." Jess replied as Becker began turning her around to go, "I'm usually pretty busy."

But as they were turning, Wilder grabbed Jess' arm.

"Just one dinner, that's all. Just to get to know each other."

When Wilder put his hand on Jess, Becker's protectiveness kicked in. He put a hand warningly on Wilder's arm.

"Let go of her before I get mad." he growled in a low undertone.

"This doesn't concern you Becker." Wilder replied angrily. Jess tried to pull her arm free, but Wilder tightened his grip. Becker saw Jess wince slightly, and he lost it. Becker reared his arm back and gave a low whistle. Wilder looked up just in time to see Becker's fist slam into his face.

XXXXX

As Connor and Abby walked down the hall, hand in hand, Connor thought about how lucky he was to have a great girl like Abby. She really did love him, nerdiness and all. He'd even gotten her started on _Doctor Who_, so he was making her nerdier by the day. As they walked, Connor saw Becker up ahead, talking with Jess and, to Connor's great displeasure, Wilder. Connor still hadn't forgotten the first day of school when Wilder had ganged up on him in the restrooms. Suddenly, Becker punched Wilder in the face, and at the same time, moving Jess protectively behind him. Connor was shocked. He'd never seen Becker get that angry. Connor saw one of Wilder's friends rushing towards Becker and Connor made a split second decision.

Letting go of Abby's hand, Connor ran forward, drawing his arm back as he did. As he got closer, he recognized the boy as one of the ones who'd been with Wilder on the first day of school. Connor allowed himself a small smile as he thought about karma. Then he punched the boy in the side of the head, before he could get to Becker. The other guy didn't even know what hit him. He'd been so focused on getting Becker that he didn't even notice Connor until it was too late.

Suddenly it became a mad house as more people were drawn into the fray. Connor could barely keep track of what was happening. He saw Matt throwing someone headfirst into a locker, while Stephen pulled Cutter to his feet, blood pouring out of the latter's nose. Danny and Becker were fighting back to back, each taking numerous hits from various opponents. Connor was being punched from all directions as he lashed out wildly.

Eventually, several teachers were able to break up the massive brawl, even managing to pull Becker off of Wilder, who was having his face beaten to a pulp by the former. After the pandemonium, the participants were led to various offices to await disciplinary measures. As he walked through the crowd of onlookers that other teachers were trying to disperse, Connor kept his head held high. He'd been there for a friend and he didn't run.

XXXXX

Becker sat quietly in the small office, staring at the other five guys that had been placed in there as well. He was surprised to see some of them had joined the fight; he'd seen all of them fighting people that associated with Wilder. In fact, the only person in the room whose presence didn't surprise him was Danny. He'd known Danny would help him, and he thought back to the fight, where he and Danny had fought back to back. Becker knew he could always count on Danny.

Connor's involvement surprised him, but he was also flattered that Connor would get into a fight for him. Becker looked over the others in the room. He barely knew Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, or Matt Anderson; yet, here they all were. Each person was lost in his own thoughts, waiting for the principal to get to their office for the punishments, when Danny suddenly spoke up.

"Is it just me, or did that get out of hand pretty quickly?" He asked with a grin. Becker laughed, the silence broken.

"It did seem to get ugly faster than most fights." Matt agreed.

"How did you get involved anyways?" Becker asked, looking at Matt. Matt just grinned.

"I barely need an excuse to fight someone, but Connor was getting his ass handed to him, so someone had to step in."

"I was not," Connor whined, "I was doing just fine, I was getting plenty of hits in."

"I just wanted to punch Wilder in the face some more." Cutter said, "We had a little disagreement on the first day of school. He wanted to beat up Connor; I didn't want him to beat up Connor. Things got heated, so I punched him in the face a few times. I enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd do it again."

"And when that didn't go exactly to plan," Stephen cut in, "I had to step in and from there, things just got progressively worse."

"I know you're not supposed to say this after a school fight," Danny began, "but that was pretty fun, I'd do it again."

"I'm glad you think that, Mr. Quinn." Came a stern voice from the doorway. All six heads turned to see Mr. Lester, James' father and principal of the school, standing at the door, looking at them with disapproval.

"I was wondering when I'd see you again, Mr. Quinn." Mr. Lester said, frowning, "But as for the rest of you, I'm ashamed to see any of you in this office. I expected better from all of you. You will receive a week of suspension where you are not permitted to set foot on campus, and a month of after school detentions afterwards. Be grateful I'm not expelling the lot of you; you'd have to graduate next year. But at least it was a fun fight, right Mr. Quinn?" He glared at Danny as he said it, but Danny, stubborn as usual, stood his ground.

"I had a good time, sir." Danny retorted, returning Mr. Lester's glare, "Next time, though, I'll probably make sure to not get punched as many times, you know, to improve the experience." Mr. Lester stared at Danny, rage temporarily rendering him speechless. Becker took this as his chance to keep Danny out of more trouble.

"We'll just go now, sir." he said, trying to sound respectful as he dragged Danny up. The others followed suit, hoping to escape before Mr. Lester could give them a bigger punishment.

As they left the office and headed for the front doors, Becker rounded on Danny.

"Why'd you have to argue like that, you know he hates that."

Danny shrugged, "I can't help it, you know that. I just get angry and then I can't control myself, sorry."

As they exited the school and entered the sunshine, Connor turned to Danny.

"What did he mean, he expected to see you again?" He asked.

Danny grinned at the memory. "That was a good time. Last year I kept giving Mrs. Murphy a hard time because she kept giving us wrong facts, urban legends and the like. So after a while, she sent me to see Mr. Lester. And he starts in on the whole, you're not smarter than the teachers or faculty, you don't have a diploma, learn your place stuff. I got mad and told him I could prove I was smarter, and I didn't need a stupid diploma to prove it. Well he got mad some more, gave me detention, and sent me back. He thought that was the end of it." Danny paused for dramatic effect as he looked at the others, all listening raptly to his tale, awaiting the joke. Becker sighed dramatically and motioned for Danny to keep talking, he'd heard the tale at least five times.

"So that night," Danny continued, grinning, "I snuck out of my house and went to the school. I climbed up on the roof, into the ventilation shaft, and down through the ceiling. Then I broke into Mr. Lester's office and stole his university diploma for teaching."

"I remember that." Connor interjected suddenly, "Mr. Lester came made an announcement the next day asking for anyone with information about the missing diploma to go to his office and tell him."

Danny grinned mischievously, "I snuck back in later that day and left it wrapped up on his desk with a note that said 'from your smartest student'. He called me into his office twenty minutes later. He was not happy at all."

The other guys in the group laughed loudly at Danny's exploits. They stopped at the intersection, looking at each other, waiting for one of them to head off for their respective homes and punishments first. Matt spoke up.

"We're gonna have to go home and face the music eventually," he said with a tone of defeat, "might as well go now." He turned and began walking towards his house. By unspoken consent, the others began trudging to their own homes as well. Becker turned and began walking back to the school.

"Where're you going?" Danny asked as he walked off.

"I'm gonna go walk Jess home." Becker shouted back, "After all, weren't you the one who said she needed to walk home with someone?" Danny just grinned at him.

"Good luck" he called finally before heading on to his own house. Becker smiled to himself, he knew he was going to have to wait several hours for school to end, but he also knew it would be worth it.

XXXXX

Jess walked out of her school building at the end of the day, talking with Abby and Sarah about the only thing anyone was talking about, the fight earlier that day.

"You said _Becker_ started the whole thing?" Sarah asked for the hundredth time.

"Yes," Jess replied, Wilder wouldn't let go of my arm, so Becker punched him in the face, and then things got ugly."

Abby laughed suddenly, "And speak of the devil." She said, nudging Jess, "Looks like your knight in shining armor stayed here to see you."

Jess looked hopefully where Abby was pointing and saw Becker sitting against the base of a tree, across the street, his head lolling slightly to one side as he slept.

"He's probably been waiting for hours." Sarah said thoughtfully, "You can't blame him for catching a power nap."

"You better go wake him up." Abby advised, "We'll leave you two love birds alone."

Jess felt oddly nervous about the upcoming conversation and looked at her two friends.

"What if he just came to tell me he doesn't want to see me anymore, I mean, I almost got him expelled."

Abby shook her head, "Jess, he started a brawl for you, I'm pretty sure that means he likes you. Just go talk to him and tell him how you feel."

"Be confident." Sarah added as she and Abby walked away, "And good luck. We'll talk to you tomorrow." That left Jess standing alone, steeling herself to finally talk to Becker about her feelings for him.

She walked confidently across the street to where Becker was sleeping and crouched down in front of him.

"Becker," she said tentatively, "Becker, wake up. It's Jess." Becker still didn't move. Jess moved closer and called his name again, louder.

"Becker, wake up. School's over, you've got to get up." Becker still didn't move. Jess sighed with exasperation.

"Hilary Becker!" she shouted at him, "You get up this instant." Becker jerked up suddenly, causing Jess to topple backwards in surprise as he stood up. He looked around wildly before looking down at Jess sprawled in the grass. A look of confusion crossed his face.

"Jess?" He asked curiously, "What are you doing here?" Jess looked up at him in surprise. She'd just assumed he was waiting for her, but apparently not.

"I-I" she stammered, trying desperately to come up with an excuse.

"You should still be in school." Becker continued, "It's..." He looked down at his watch and his face fell. "Four o'clock" he finished lamely, "I was going to surprise you by waiting outside."

"If it's any consolation," Jess said, still on the ground, "you did surprise me."

Becker looked at her apologetically, "Sorry about that," he said as he pulled her to her feet. "My dad used to wake me up at five in the morning to do pt. He used a whistle and a bag of ice. So now, when I wake up, I wake up fast."

"It's fine." Jess assured him, "So, what did you came back for anyways, I thought you were suspended for a week."

Becker looked down at his feet, "I came back to walk home with you, if you want. If you don't want to be seen with me, that's fine."

Jess was taken aback. "Of course I want to be seen with you, and I love that you came to walk me home. Why wouldn't I want to be seen with you?"

Becker began walking, motioning Jess to walk with him. "I figured you didn't want everyone to think you were friends with the guy that started a massive fight."

Jess laughed, "I'm telling everyone you're my friend, after all, you started that for me." Jess blushed as soon as the words left her mouth. She couldn't believe she'd just said that. She glanced at Becker from the corner of her eyes as they walked along. He looked like he was fighting some internal struggle. Jess decided to go for broke.

"You know," she began, breaking the silence, "what I told Wilder wasn't entirely true."

Becker looked at her in surprise. "Which part wasn't true?" He asked, trying to seem nonchalant.

Jess took a deep breath, preparing herself for rejection. "The part where I told him I was normally too busy to go out anywhere."

Becker looked confused and Jess realized she was going to have to help him along.

"If someone else were to ask me out, I'd find time to go." she said slowly, waiting for Becker to catch on. He still looked lost. She gave an internal sigh, Abby and Sarah were right, he did have no clue about women or his emotions.

"I usually like military guys," She added, hoping she still had some subtlety to her statements, "but I just don't like Dan Wilder. If I were to date someone, I want it to be someone I knew, someone I already know I can count on."

Becker looked at her in surprise and she secretly rejoiced that he finally seemed to get it.

"So," he said, trying to sound casual, "are you doing anything this weekend? If not, I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me?"

Jess almost cried with joy. He finally asked her out, all she'd had to do was get harassed by someone he didn't like first. Jess looked at Becker with a wide grin.

"Yes, I'd love to go out with you, Becker." she said. She realized that she still had a huge grin plastered across her face, but when she realized Becker had the same thing, she realized she didn't care.

"Great," Becker said as they stopped in front of her apartment. "That's great. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"No you won't." she reminded him, "You're suspended for a week, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Becker said, still grinning widely, "well, I'll see you after school, then."

Jess was touched; he would wait after school for her, just to walk her home. She hugged him suddenly.

"That sounds good." she told him, standing on her toes to speak into his ear. "And thanks for hitting Wilder for me today." She let go of him and began walking back to her apartment. Jess gave Becker one last look before closing the door and was happy to see he was still standing where she left him, grinning like an idiot.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Connor slept soundly, hoping to capitalize on his weeklong suspension. Unfortunately, his mother had different ideas.

"Connor Temple!" she shouted, waking him up from his sleep.

"Wha- what?" Connor said groggily, looking around in alarm. He saw his clock next to his bed.

"Mum, it's only eight o'clock." He whined, trying to go back to sleep.

"Why should you get to sleep in because you got in a fight?" She asked sternly. "Get up; I want you out of bed now and out of the house by nine."

"I won't bother you." Connor argued, still angling for more sleep.

"I know you won't," she responded, "because you're going out for the day. You don't get to fight in school and then relax for a week. And besides, I've been talking with the other mums; they're all sending their sons out as well. That's final."

Connor sighed; he knew a lost battle when he saw one. As his mum left his room, Connor swung himself out of his bed, grumbling the entire time. He grabbed his phone off his desk and checked for messages. He grinned in spite of himself when he saw a message from Abby.

_See you after school. Enjoy your grueling punishment of staying home. We're all jealous of you._

Connor's smile grew wider. Leave it to Abby to be able to cheer him up with only a text. He sent her a response.

_Don't be jealous, mum's making me leave for the day. I'll come see you after school. Have fun "learning"_

Connor set about getting ready to spend the day wandering around, making sure to grab his jacket and fedora. He grabbed a bagel and opened his front door where he was greeted by the sight of Danny lounging on the front steps while Becker slept sprawled across the front lawn. Connor looked at Danny in surprise as the latter got up from his seat.

"You're lucky," Danny began, "you got to stay inside until nine. My mum kicked me out at seven thirty. Becker had to be outside by six."

"Ok," Connor said slowly as he closed the door behind him. "But why are you on my steps and Becker is sleeping on the lawn?"

Danny laughed, "We decided to wait on you, we met up with Cutter earlier and he said the others were going to meet up in the park, we've all been kicked out of our house for the day."

"And probably the week." Becker added from the ground. Connor looked down at him.

"The lawn comfortable, mate?" Connor asked as Danny pulled Becker to his feet.

"Can't complain." Becker responded, "I was up at four thirty this morning, I'm tired."

Danny grinned, "C'mon, let's get going. And Becker had a good reason to lose sleep last night. I understand he had an exciting afternoon yesterday."

"Getting in a fight wasn't enough for you, Action Man?" Connor taunted, "Needed a little more excitement in your life?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Becker responded, turning red.

"Well, I do." Danny said with a cheeky grin, "But I'll wait until we meet up with the others to get into it. I figure they'll want to hear if yesterday's fight was worth it."

"Ohh" Connor said in a singsong voice, "So your excitement involved the lovely Jess Parker. Must have been a good afternoon."

"I don't want to talk about it." Becker repeated firmly, glaring at the other two boys. Connor and Danny let it go and the trio continued to walk to the park, trading jokes and sarcasm as they went.

XXXXX

Matt sat relaxed on the picnic bench, watching the two best friends, Nick Cutter and Stephen Hart jovially argue about Stephen's football abilities. As he listened to Stephen defend his skills, Matt thought about how different his life had become since the start of the school year.

He'd had the same group of friends for years growing up until his senior year, but he hadn't realized until recently that they'd never really connected. Sure, they'd hung out, but he never really knew any of them. And they never really knew him. Everyone had been so focused on acting like the toughest guy in school, that none of them ever tried to get to know one another on any personal level.

And he'd been fine with the way that worked out until he met Emily. She completely ignored the tough guy act and got to know who he really was. She knew he owned the entire Harry Potter collection and cried when Fred Weasley died. And she knew he secretly wanted to own a TARDIS and try and make the future a better place, but she still didn't care. So Matt stopped trying to act like a tough guy so much and started spending less time with his "friends".

Unfortunately, that left him without a whole lot a people to spend time with. Yet here he was, somehow part of a group of guys who all seemed to like him. Matt just smiled as he leaned farther back in his seat, watching the exchange between Stephen and Cutter.

"You're just jealous," Stephen was saying, "because the only time you've ever kicked a football, you took out your mum's flowerpot. How you managed to hit it while it was on the second story windowsill I'll never know."

Cutter feigned offense. "I'm very good at football." He stated, "I just choose not to display my skills around you so you don't feel bad. It's because I'm a good friend."

As Stephen opened his mouth to respond, Connor, Becker, and Danny walked up to the group of picnic tables they were sitting at.

"Were we talking about Stephen's nonexistent football skills?" Danny asked immediately as they sat down.

Stephen looked shocked, "You've never even seen me play. How would you know?"

"I don't," Danny admitted shamelessly, "I'm just assuming based on Cutter's statements. Besides, that's not what's important now, what's important is Becker's exciting afternoon yesterday."

Becker immediately turned a deep red and glared at Danny, who took on a look of innocence. Matt leaned forward, interested. He didn't know Becker that well, but he was wondering what would have gotten him this embarrassed. Matt remembered hearing Connor mention someone named Jess being Becker's reason for starting the fight, but he couldn't be sure. Becker cleared his throat.

"Well, umm, to be honest, I started yesterday's fight over a girl, Jess Parker." Becker looked almost embarrassed by the admission, as if he felt guilty that they all got suspended over his feelings for Jess. Matt just grinned.

"Don't worry about it mate," He said reassuringly, "I've gotten in fights for much stupider things. I think I speak for everyone here when I say, just tell us if it was worth it."

"I asked her out yesterday." Becker said in a rush. Danny led the rest of them in a round of applause, which made Becker look incredibly uncomfortable.

"You all haven't known Becker for as long as I have," Danny explained, "him even asking a girl out is a major achievement, I'm very proud of him."

Becker's face turned even redder at Danny's remark. "If you want to be proud of someone," he said, obviously trying to take the heat off of himself, "be proud of Connor for finally admitting his love for Abby."

Now it was Connor's turn to blush, and Matt felt more than a little relieved. He and Emily both had felt embarrassed at mistaking them for a couple the day before, but it seemed like it worked out in the end.

"It seems like everyone here has finally got a girlfriend." Danny said, grinning. "Which is good, I was tired of telling Connor and Becker to get a move on every day."

"I'm still single," Stephen cut in suddenly, "and Cutter is, well, Cutter's situation is..."

"It's complicated." Cutter finished quickly, and Matt noticed how uncomfortable he looked about it. But Matt was still confused.

"I thought you were dating Helen Carpenter." He said to Stephen, "I always see you two together after school."

As soon as he said it, Matt realized he'd said something wrong. The entire group froze and went deathly silent and watched as Cutter looked at Stephen in shock.

"How much time do you spend with Helen?" He asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"We're working on the senior project together, that's all." Stephen insisted, "Nothing else."

"So you work on it every day after school?" Cutter asked menacingly, "Because that's when you've told me you had to baby sit your little sister. So which one is it? Or do you have quality time together, just you, her, and Annie?"

Stephen now looked more uncomfortable than Becker or Connor had the entire time. Then his expression changed to anger.

"What does it matter if I am spending time with Helen. Just because you two broke up the way you did shouldn't mean I can't even see her. I don't see the problem or why it's any of your business." Stephen was standing up now, his face red with anger.

Cutter stood up too. "You, more than anyone, know what's she's like. She's just using you, I don't know for what yet, but she's using you. That's all she cares about, what other people can do for her. I thought you knew that."

"You know what I think?" Stephen asked angrily, his voice steadily rising. "I think after all of this, you're still in love with her, so you don't want anyone else to even talk to her." But only part of what Stephen said seemed to register in Cutter's mind.

"What do you mean talk to her?" He replied, "Has she got you convinced you're in love with her now?"

"So what if I am?" Stephen yelled suddenly, "What if I am in love with Helen. It shouldn't matter to you; you ended it with her, not the other way around. Yes, I love Helen and if you can't get over that, then there's no point in us talking any more."

Stephen stood his ground, panting slightly. Cutter looked at him with more anger than Matt had ever seen anyone give. After a moment of silence, Cutter punched Stephen as hard as he could in the face, knocking him to the ground. Cutter then turned around sharply and left the cluster of picnic tables they had been seated at. Stephen picked himself up off the ground and yelled after his former friend.

"Nice mature response, Nick. I'm glad to see our lifetime of friendship means this much to you." Stephen then turned in the opposite direction and left as well.

After a long moment of awkward silence between the four remaining guys, Danny looked at the others and said,

"Well, that was unexpected."

Matt looked at the remaining guys sitting with him.

"What was that all about?" He asked, feeling guilty over starting the fight.

"Cutter and Helen have a... let's just say 'complicated' history." Becker explained.

"They've been on again off again for years." Danny elaborated. "And finally at the end of last year, Cutter broke them off for good."

"Then he started dating Claudia Brown-Lewis." Connor added, "Until, well, you know."

Matt nodded solemnly, he well remembered hearing the news that one of their fellow classmates had died in a car crash.

"I've seen Helen hanging around Cutter and Stephen, but they always seem to brush her off." Connor said, still looking in the direction Cutter had stormed off in. "I wouldn't have thought Stephen would have feelings for Helen at all, him being Cutter's best friend and all."

Danny shook his head, "We just need to stay out of it and let them work it out. They've been friends for too long to let Helen get in between them."

Matt nodded in agreement with the others; silently hoping the friends would be able to work it out.

After a moment of silence, Danny spoke again.

"Just out of curiosity, how do you guys feel about doing something stupid, dangerous, and slightly illegal?" Matt looked at him with surprise as Danny flashed one of his mischievous grins.

**AN:** Just to clear a few things up. Yes, Matt wanting to own his own TARDIS was a reference to my own work, because I have no shame. And for the record, I did cry when Fred died. That's all I've got, please review.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Stephen Hart stormed through the streets, trying to get as much distance between himself and Cutter as he could. He wasn't sure what shocked him more. The entire conversation or the fact that his best friend had punched him in the face. He knew Cutter would respond with anger, that's why he didn't tell him about Helen, but he never expected Nick to get violent, it just wasn't his way.

Stephen didn't pay attention to where he was going, taking random streets as he went. His mind was too preoccupied with his argument with Cutter. He thought back to everything they'd yelled at each other. He realized that he really did mean what he said about Helen, he really did love her. Stephen didn't know how he could explain it; she just made him feel important.

The more he thought about Helen, the more he wanted to see her. Stephen checked his watch.

"Damn." He muttered angrily, "It's only ten thirty, she won't get out for hours."

Stephen pulled out his phone; he needed some form of contact with her. He sent a quick text.

_We need to talk as soon as you get out of school, it's about Cutter and it's important._

Stephen sent the text and sighed; now he had to find a way to occupy himself until school got out. She responded immediately.

_I skipped school so we could spend some more time together. I'm at my house and nobody's home, come see me._

Stephen grinned as he read the text. Classic Helen, she barely needed an excuse to break some rule or another. He began jogging to her house, eager to get there as soon as possible.

When he got to the front of her driveway, Helen walked out of her front door to greet him. Without waiting for her to say anything, Stephen grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. She returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck as he moved his to her waist. They stayed locked in their embrace for a few minutes before Helen broke away.

"Come on," She said coyly, taking his hand and leading him inside. "The neighbors will be watching."

XXXXX

Helen sat on her couch, snuggled up against Stephen, listening to him explain what had happened between him and Cutter. She allowed herself a small smile; everything was going exactly to plan. Helen suppressed a twinge of guilt. She did feel a little bad using Stephen like this to get back at Nick, but it was all necessary for the end goal. Stephen had just finished telling her how Nick punched him in the face. She inwardly smiled again, Nick wasn't usually a violent person, he must have gotten angrier than she would have thought.

"Aww" she cooed, turning to look at the mark on his face. "He shouldn't have done that to you." she added, lightly kissing the bruise. Stephen smiled and looked at her with adoration. She mentally shook her head, he was way too easy to manipulate. Helen knew exactly what buttons to push to get him to do what she wanted.

"Tomorrow," she said, cuddling closer into his side, "we should really make this official, make sure everyone at school knows." Stephen seemed pleased with the idea and smiled as he held her closer.

Helen wanted everyone at school to know they were dating, even though she barely thought of it as that. Even though he couldn't realize it, going public with her would ruin Stephen. Almost everybody at school knew about Helen and Nick's rocky past, and seeing Stephen date his best friend's ex would turn everyone at school against him. It hadn't even been that hard to convince him to start seeing more of her. Helen knew what made Stephen tick and knew how to use it to her advantage.

Having been Nick's best friend for their entire childhood, Stephen had spent some considerable time in Nick's shadow. There was nothing malicious about it, Helen knew Nick didn't mean anything by it, but he was just naturally more talented than Stephen. And Stephen had no shortages by way of talent. He consistently finished in the top ten percent of any class on every assignment, was a better athlete, and had much more luck with women. But his drive to achieve in everything was to beat Nick in something. Helen had noticed that trait when she first started hanging out with the pair. It was the reason Stephen practiced football as much as he did, and why he focused on being in such great shape, his motivation was to be better than Nick in anything. And now she'd given him his chance.

Stephen finally had the chance to step out of Nick Cutter's shadow by keeping Helen as a steady girlfriend and proving she loved him more than she loved Nick. Helen fought the urge to laugh, Stephen was so gullible and naive, he really should have listened to his friend.

XXXXX

Nick Cutter sat slumped against the alleyway wall, panting for breath and trying to soothe his aching throat. He looked over his handiwork in the alleyway. Trash bins were strewn everywhere, the bags of trash deposited on the ground. Some of the bags had been stamped and crushed, others were opened, their contents broken apart and thrown against the brick walls. Cutter looked at his bleeding knuckles, he'd punched the walls until his hands bled and shouted himself hoarse, and his rage was finally starting to subside.

Cutter felt drained; after the argument with Stephen, he'd wandered around blindly, his anger rising until he couldn't contain himself anymore and he began destroying anything he could get his hands on. His mum called them his Jekyll fits, and he could see the similarities. He felt himself slowly drifting off to sleep, and his last conscious thought was how unwise it was to sleep in the middle of an alleyway in the middle of the day.

_Cutter looked at Helen and Stephen._

_"The controls are on the other side," Helen said, "but whoever gets to them will be locked in"_

_Cutter slumped back against the wall, defeated. "Then one of us has to go back in." He looked the others in the eyes, Helen averted her gaze, but Stephen stared back firmly. Cutter knew Stephen would volunteer, and he couldn't let that happen._

_"I'll go." Cutter said finally. Stephen looked at him in shock._

_"You'll never make it out of there alive." He insisted. Cutter looked at him with a stern expression._

_"Get out of here." He said, wincing internally at how harsh he sounded. Cutter stood up and leaned into to Stephen, giving him a one-armed hug._

_"Remember, Lester's not the enemy." He whispered, glaring pointedly at Helen. Cutter let go and walked towards the door. As he walked, he heard Stephen's heavy boots rushing up behind him. As Cutter turned to see what Stephen wanted, he was knocked flat on his back as Stephen punched him square in the face. Cutter got up dazedly as he heard the heavy door closing. He stood up in shock as he realized what had just happened._

_"Stephen!" He yelled through the door. Stephen's face appeared on the other side of the glass._

_"Sorry, mate." He said with a false tone of apology. "I'm doing this one."_

_"No!" Cutter shouted back, "Open the door! Open it!" Cutter could feel himself slowly beginning to lose his sanity. "Open the door, Stephen!"_

_"Can't do it, Nick." Stephen said as he walked backwards into the room. Cutter could see predators of all kinds, past and future, swarming into the room. "Tell Connor and Abby to stay out of trouble," Stephen continued, "and look after yourself Nick."_

_Cutter could only watch in open-mouthed horror as the creatures surrounded Stephen. Now standing in the center of the room. As a future predator leapt from the top of one of the cages directly towards Stephen, Cutter turned around and slid against the door, his eyes filling with tears._

_He noticed Helen leaving the room, but he didn't care, all he cared about was the fact that he just lost his best friend, a man who was like a brother to him. The man who was there for him when he first lost Helen, who was there for him when they found anomalies, the man who was always just there, ready to take on any challenge. Cutter thought back to everything they'd faced together, the raptors, sand scorpions, carnivorous worms, and everything else that had come through the anomalies, and how Stephen had always been prepared to risk his life to save Cutter, or Connor, or Abby. And now he finally had, he was gone. Cutter felt the tears falling and the grief welling up inside him until he couldn't take it anymore. He had to get the sorrow out of his body before he drowned in it._

"Stephen!"

Cutter awoke with a start, looking around groggily as he tried to remember where he was and how he'd gotten there. As he blearily rubbed his eyes, his thoughts strayed back to the dream he'd had. Cutter struggled to remember it, he was vaguely sure that Stephen was there, and Helen as well, but definitely Stephen. That was important for some reason, but he couldn't remember why. Cutter stood up and checked his watch. He did a double take. The watch read four fifteen, he'd been asleep for hours. Cutter felt his stomach rumble with hunger and decided to go to Jenny's house, it was closer and he wanted to talk to her about Stephen anyways. She was good with relationships; she'd know what to do.

As he walked, Cutter tried in vain to remember more of his dream. He knew he'd yelled Stephen when he'd woken up, but he couldn't be sure as to why. Cutter thought about the vague feeling of sadness he'd felt when he'd woken up, he was sure it had to do with Stephen, but he still couldn't remember what the dream had been about. Cutter gave a sigh of frustration; it would come to him eventually.

As he was walking down the road to Jenny's house, Cutter caught sight of her walking down the street from the opposite direction, clearly just arriving home from school. He waved at her, and after a moment of confusion, she waved back. Cutter jogged up to her, closing the distance between them.

"Here, let me take that." He said as a greeting, indicating Jenny's large schoolbag. She still looked surprised at his arrival.

"Oh, OK," she said, handing him her bag with a curious expression. "What brings you here? Not that I'm not happy to see you Nick, but what's up?"

"I just needed someone to talk to," Cutter admitted, "it's been kind of a rough day."

Jenny gave him a sympathetic smile. "Ok, let's get inside and we can talk."

Cutter nodded and followed Jenny into her house.

XXXXX

"Has it occurred to anyone else how completely whipped we are?" Danny asked the others. Connor looked down the line of the three other guys who were standing with him, waiting across the street for school to get out.

"I was just thinking the same thing." Matt agreed, staring steadfastly at the front doors of the school.

"I'm just wondering why we got here so early." Connor said to the others, "I mean, it's three forty, school won't get out for another twenty minutes.

"It never hurts to be early." Becker commented, restating his belief that had gotten the others to wait with him outside the school.

"All I'm saying," Connor continued, "is the park had benches, and now we're standing outside, waiting on our respective girlfriends. We could've been sitting, that's all."

Danny checked his watch again, "Connor does have a point Becker, we could have waited a little longer."

Becker didn't say anything, but Matt scoffed, "C'mon Danny, it's not that bad. I expected this from Connor, but I thought you'd be tougher."

Connor looked down the line at Matt, "I'm very tough," he insisted, "I just don't see the need to stand for another twenty minutes, especially since we've been here since three twenty."

"And I don't mind standing," Danny added, "I'm just saying, tomorrow, let's give it some more time before we come wait across the street."

Becker nodded, "I can live with that."

Matt shook his head, still looking across the street, "I guess we will be doing this all week." He gave a low sigh and bent his knees slightly. They all stayed quiet for a few minutes, watching the school intently.

"They're worth it though." Danny said, breaking the silence, "Completely worth it."

The others all made noises of agreement.

"We still could have been sitting." Connor added wistfully.

**AN:** A few things to cover real fast.

1). This was supposed to just have Cutter and Stephen, but the idea for the other guys to be waiting outside was too good to pass up.

2). I promised myself I wouldn't do another dream sequence with a scene from the show, but this one worked out so well I couldn't resist.

3). I wrote something from Helen's perspective, I feel dirty inside.

4). Please review, they make me so happy I cry a little on the inside. And thanks for sticking with this story for fifteen chapters.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"So I punched him and walked away." Cutter finished as Jenny sat her bag down in the kitchen and sat across from him.

Jenny looked at him in astonishment; she couldn't believe he'd hit his best friend. Cutter noticed her look of shock and looked down, embarrassed.

"I'm not proud of it." He said shamefully, "I just got so mad I couldn't control myself." Cutter looked at her with sorrowful eyes, "What should I do?"

Jenny looked back into his eyes and noticed once again how deep and stunning his they were. She mentally chided herself; he needed a friend right now, not more complications.

"What you need to do is get yourself cleaned up." She advised, taking a hold of his hands. "Your knuckles are covered with blood, they need to be cleaned and bandaged."

With that Jenny pulled Cutter out of his seat and led him to the bathroom. She continued to hold onto his hands, telling herself that there wasn't anything to it, but she knew she was lying to herself. Cutter didn't seem to mind her holding his hands, but he was probably more than a little preoccupied at the moment. Jenny walked into the bathroom, pulling Cutter behind her. She motioned for him to sit on the edge of the tub and busied herself at the medicine cabinet, getting rubbing alcohol and bandages. When she got her supplies, she pulled up one of the stools her mother kept in the bathroom and sat across from Cutter. As she took his hands again, she spoke.

"I think you need to talk to Stephen directly." Jenny said as she dabbed rubbing alcohol on Cutter's knuckles. "Make sure Helen isn't around to mess with his head and explain to him why you think he shouldn't be with Helen. Just don't hit him again." Jenny looked at Cutter's hands more thoroughly, "And how did hitting him even do this to your hands anyways?"

Cutter looked down at his lap again. "I did that to myself." he mumbled, still looking down.

"What?" Jenny asked, alarmed, "How did you do this? What were you doing?"

"I punched a wall." Cutter admitted, "Repeatedly. When I get angry, I just lash out and hit anything I can. This time, it was a brick wall."

Jenny looked at Cutter in shock for the second time that day. She'd never even seen him angry before and now she discovered he had a violent temper. Jenny mentally shook her head, it didn't matter, he was still Cutter and he needed her support.

"Well," she said with a cheery smile, "Then you need to talk to Stephen in an open field, just in case things don't go as well as you hope."

Cutter laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry, I don't plan on doing this again."

Jenny just smiled back at him, "Even if you do get yourself hurt again, I'll be here to patch you back up." As soon as she said it, Jenny froze. She stopped and realized how much Cutter could read into her statement, and how much she wanted him to read into it.

Cutter seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He coughed awkwardly and pulled his bandaged hands back. They stared at each other, each one silently willing the other to break the silence first. Cutter coughed again.

"There was one more weird thing." He said, trying to move past the silence, "I think I had a dream about Stephen after our fight, I think he died." Jenny noticed the confusion on his face. "I couldn't remember before, but I'm pretty sure he died." Cutter continued.

Jenny frowned at him, "You had a dream where your best friend died?" she asked incredulously. She shook her head, "It was probably just nerves and adrenaline left over from punching the fight and punching a brick wall."

Cutter nodded, "You're probably right." he admitted, "It was nothing."

Jenny stood up and smiled at him, "Good," she said lightly, "what are you going to do now that you're all cleaned up?"

Cutter stood up, and for the first time Jenny noticed how small her bathroom really was when she noticed how close she and Cutter were standing to each other. Cutter seemed to come to the same realization and he looked down at her. Jenny needed to know why he was here, of all places, looking for comfort and advice. She knew he had other friends, but here he was, in her bathroom, standing incredibly close to her. And most of all, Jenny wanted, no needed, to know how much she should read into his actions. She took a deep breath.

"Why are you here, Nick?" She asked plainly, "Why did you come here, what do you really want from me?" Jenny winced internally at how accusing she sounded, but she held her ground and stared firmly at Cutter.

Cutter looked surprised, "I don't want anything, just a friendly ear." he said, clearly hurt at her attack.

Jenny felt herself getting angrier, why did she have to be his friendly ear, is that the role she'd been delegated to, to ignore her feelings just to be a friend.

"That's all I am?" She asked, glaring at Cutter, "Is that all I'm good for to you? Just someone you can talk to about how you feel. Someone who gets to listen about how you still love your ex, while I have to ignore my feelings for you?" Jenny froze and realized what she'd just said. She hadn't been truly honest with herself until that moment when she realized exactly how she felt about Nick Cutter. Cutter seemed to be struggling with what she'd just said as well.

"Your- your feelings for me?" He asked, still looking confused and lost.

Jenny sighed internally, exasperated both at herself and Cutter. She couldn't believe that she felt anything for Cutter, and at the same time, she couldn't believe it had taken her this long to realize it.

"Yes, Nick, my feelings for you." she stated plainly, looking into his eyes. "I love you, Nick Cutter. I love you so much and it hurts me more than anything when I realize you're still in love with a girl who will continue to hurt you." Jenny stopped and looked down at her feet, still breathing heavily with from the rush of everything she'd said. Cutter remained speechless; Jenny wished he'd just leave and get out of her life.

Surprisingly, he put his hand under her chin and tilted her eyes up to meet his. Jenny looked at him and without warning, Cutter leaned in and kissed her. Jenny was stunned for a second before she eagerly returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around Cutter's neck as his hands went to her back and drew her closer to him.

Jenny lost track of time after a while, she was so absorbed in Cutter's embrace and prolonging the experience for as long as she could. Eventually, Cutter pulled away to look at her. Jenny smiled at him.

"I guess that answers how you feel about me." She told him with a small grin. Cutter smiled back at her, looking happier than she'd seen him for a long time.

"I've felt this way about you for a while now," Cutter told her, still smiling, "I just didn't know how you felt, and I didn't want to say anything, especially after Claudia." Cutter looked away after he said Claudia's name, but Jenny directed his gaze back to her.

"She would have wanted us to both be happy." she said gently, "And we're both happy together." She gave him another smile. Cutter just smiled back and leaned in to kiss her again.

XXXXX

Emily sat on Connor's front porch with her head resting on Matt's shoulder, lost in thought about how different her life was now as compared to the previous year. She'd never been overly popular in school; most people didn't try to get to know her because she never spoke to anyone. She'd learned to cope with the loneliness through her writing, and that kept her happy.

But then, she met Matt, and everything changed. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed the company of other people until she started spending time with them again. And after only a few days of hanging out with Matt's friends, Emily had realized how empty and shallow they were. Luckily, Matt had started to realize the same thing, and he'd slowly stopped spending as much time with them. She was also working on trying to get him to act less antisocial and meet different people. And somehow, getting in a fight led him to meet people he seemed to like a lot more than his other friends. So now here they were, part of a large group of couples, just spending time together. Emily definitely preferred this to being alone. Also, the entertainment was better.

"C'mon soldier boy," Danny taunted, crouched low and looking at Becker with his usual cheeky grin, "let's settle this."

Becker rushed at Danny and the two fell to the ground in an intense wrestling match. Emily looked at Sarah, who was laughing at Danny's playful taunts.

"You said they do this every week?" She asked with mild concern, watching the two boys continue to grapple on Connor's front lawn.

"Yep," Sarah replied with a smile, "Danny's been trying to prove he can take Becker in a fight for years, Becker's never been beaten yet."

As she finished her sentence, Becker locked his legs around Danny's midsection and began cutting off the oxygen flow. Danny quickly tapped out. Jess cheered while Connor groaned and slapped a five-pound note in Abby's hand. Matt laughed.

"Connor, you knew Danny's never won," Matt told him jovially, "Why would you bet against him?"

Connor shook his head, "I'm a sucker for the underdog." he admitted, "I can't help it." Abby just laughed and pocketed her winnings before giving Connor a kiss on the cheek.

Emily smiled as she watched the pair, they really were perfect for each other and she was just glad they'd finally gotten together. She had to admit she'd been unbearably embarrassed when she'd mistaken them for a couple, she was just glad Matt was there to think up an excuse for them to leave. It was obvious Connor and Abby didn't know Matt that well if they thought anyone could persuade him to watch _The Notebook_.

Emily looked up at Matt and noticed he was watching Connor with a strange look in his eyes. She sighed quietly, but loud enough to get his attention. He looked down at her and she gave him an exasperated look.

"I know what you're thinking," She told him in an undertone, "don't challenge Connor to a wrestling match. You know there's no contest."

Matt looked at her in shock. "How'd you know I was thinking about that?" He asked with astonishment.

"I always know what you're thinking." She responded, "it's not that difficult, you're pretty easy to read."

Matt frowned at her, "I've been told I don't have a very expressive face," he told her, "I'm very stoic. You may as well admit it, you can read minds."

Emily laughed in surprise. She was more surprised that he would say something nerdy like that in front of other people; he was getting more comfortable with himself by the day. She could see the realization that he was making nerdy jokes around other people forming on his face, so Emily decided to let him display his masculinity.

"Did you hear that, Connor?" She called over to Connor. He looked up with surprise. "Matt says he can take you in a wrestling match, he thinks you'd be too chicken to fight him."

Connor grinned and looked at Abby like a child asking for permission and she nodded with a sigh of exasperation. Danny and Becker sat back with their respective girlfriends to watch.

Matt leaned in close to Emily before he stood up.

"Ten quid says he taps out in under three minutes," he muttered to her with a wink.

"You're on." She replied, pushing him up and towards Connor. Matt walked backwards to Connor, looking at Emily with a smile.

"This will be over before you can say-" But whatever Matt had been about to say was cut off as Connor launched his attack while Matt was still turned away.

Thirty minutes later, Matt took Emily's hand as the group dispersed, and they set off towards her house. They walked in silence for a few minutes, Emily enjoying Matt's presence and the colors the sunset was making across the trees.

"I'm not paying you." Matt said suddenly, his face completely serious.

"What?" Emily replied, giving him a fake pout. "Connor won that fight fair and square."

Matt looked at her sharply, "Fair and square? You were cheating like crazy. You threw dirt at my face every time I got a grip on him."

Emily smiled at the memory. "That's not cheating," She stated, "I was preparing you for a real world situation. What if you were in a real fight and someone threw dirt in your face. Now you know how to overcome it."

Matt looked at her with a shocked expression that soon turned into a grimace. "I'm still not paying." He repeated.

Emily gave a dramatic sigh, "Fine," she conceded, "But you're renting the next movie, and it has to be a romantic comedy."

Matt looked at her again, "Only because I love you." he said, "you know I hate rom coms."

Emily smiled sweetly at him, "I know," she told her boyfriend brightly, "That's why you should have won." Matt just looked at her with amazement and shook his head slightly.

**AN:** Not gonna lie, this chapter was a bitch to write. I don't know why, but writing the Cutter/Jenny scenes took forever, I just couldn't make it happen. So I hope it was worth it, please review, and yes, I plan on Stephen and Nick reconciling next chapter.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN:** This entire chapter is the Cutter/Stephen make-up. Seriously, the whole thing. Be warned, more "adult" themes are discussed here, but just go with it; I think I handled it tastefully. Also, Chapter 18 will be the last chapter of Primeval High, so be aware; this story is coming to an end. Please enjoy and review.

**Chapter 17**

Nick Cutter rolled out of his bed on the second day of his suspension before his alarm clock even went off. He was wired thinking about Jenny Brown-Lewis. He rushed through his morning routine, eager to get to her house and see her again. As he walked into the kitchen, his mother reminded him that he needed to leave the house soon, but Cutter didn't care, he just wanted to see Jenny.

But when he thought about how he was going to spend the time between the start and end of school, he stopped. He was worried about running into Stephen; he still didn't know exactly what he was going to say to him yet. Cutter pushed those thoughts out of his mind and focused on seeing Jenny.

After Cutter left his house and met Jenny at hers they walked hand in hand to school, even though Cutter wasn't allowed to step onto the campus. As the couple got closer, Cutter looked around warily.

"Lets take one of these side streets to get there," He suggested suddenly, trying to hide his nervousness. Unfortunately for him, Jenny knew him better than he thought.

"You're just worried we'll see Stephen and Helen, aren't you?" She asked, giving him a scrutinizing look. Cutter nodded, embarrassed at how quickly she saw through him.

"Fine," She said casually. Cutter looked up in surprise. She smiled at him. "But I want you to talk to him today," She ordered, "no excuses."

Cutter beamed at her, "That's fine." he told her, "I just want to be able to approach him on my time."

They took a side street Cutter knew and continued heading towards the school. As they rounded the corner that would take them to the side of the school, the couple stopped dead. Apparently Stephen and Helen had the same idea to use the back ways, but they were currently using it to say goodbye, passionately. Cutter made to move back slowly, but Jenny stood her ground and cleared her throat loudly. The embracing couple broke apart suddenly and turned to face her.

Stephen's eyes widened as he saw Cutter holding Jenny's hand, while Helen's eyes narrowed in suspicion. The two pairs stood there, staring at each other. Cutter took a deep breath and made the first move.

"We need to talk. Alone." He stated simply, staring directly at Stephen and determinedly not looking at Helen. Stephen nodded, surprising Cutter.

"Yeah, you're right." He said with more than a hint of hostility. He turned to Helen, "I'll see you after school." he told her before pulling her into another deep embrace. Cutter and Jenny both looked away, trying not to be embarrassed. When they broke apart and Helen walked off, Jenny turned to Cutter.

"Don't hit him again." She whispered as she gave him a light kiss before walking off towards the school. When both women had left, Stephen looked at Cutter and laughed.

"You really showed me up there." he said, shaking his head as he walked up to Cutter.

Cutter frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?" he asked, still frowning.

Stephen just laughed again. "I'm sitting here trying to get my tongue as far into Helen's mouth as I can, and you just give Jenny that little good-bye peck. You were classy, I was trashy. Well played."

Cutter looked at Stephen in astonishment, amazed at his seamless transition from yesterday's anger to casual jokes. Cutter decided to follow his lead.

"Truthfully," He admitted, "Jenny took the lead there. I would have been fine trying to out-trash you, but she's got more class than that." Stephen shook his head and sat down against one of the brick walls.

"I don't feel like going anywhere in particular to do this, and as long as we're not yelling again, here's as good a place as any."

Cutter nodded and took a seat on the ground against the opposite wall. They stared at each other for a moment. Cutter broke the silence first.

"I shouldn't have hit you." he said, looking directly at Stephen, "You were right, it wasn't a very mature response and I'm sorry."

To Cutter's surprise, Stephen shrugged. "I almost deserved it." He said, rubbing his face gently, "I mean, it didn't detract from my good looks too badly, so I'll survive. After all, I'm still better looking than you are."

Cutter scoffed, easily falling back into one of their old arguments. "Please," he retorted, "the only person who finds you remotely attractive is Annie, and you're her idol anyways."

Stephen just flashed him a smirk, "That was before, now, I've been punched in the face and people can tell. It gives me a more badass appearance. So really, I should thank you."

Cutter grinned, "I think it's starting to fade, come here, I'll touch it up for you."

Stephen's laughter was contagious and soon Cutter joined in, enjoying the feeling of letting go of his emotions. They laughed loudly for a few minutes, each enjoying the release. Finally, as the laughter died down, Stephen stared at Cutter with a serious expression.

"Why did you get so defensive over Helen if you cared about Jenny instead?" He asked suddenly.

Cutter sobered up. "I don't give a damn about Helen," he said sharply, "I care about you. I know she's going to hurt you."

Stephen shook his head, "You said that yesterday and I don't believe it." Cutter sighed.

"Think about it," he said firmly, "everyone knows we've been best friends since we were kids. What do you think people will say when they see you, my best friend, dating Helen, my ex who I've had a rocky past with? People are going to hate you, they'll think you caused us to split."

Stephen looked suddenly ashamed. "I might have." he said in a quiet voice. "There's something you don't know." Stephen stopped, gathering himself. Cutter waited patiently, knowing that rushing Stephen would only set him back further.

After taking a deep breath, Stephen spoke again. "While you were out of town at your uncle's funeral, I slept with Helen." As he finished his announcement, Stephen buried his head in his hands.

"I know," Cutter said casually. Stephen looked up immediately, the shock evident in his eyes.

"How- how do you know?" He asked incredulously.

Cutter grinned at him, "She texted me and told me what you did. She used you to try and make me jealous, just like she's doing now. I broke up with her for good immediately afterwards."

Stephen slumped against the wall in a gesture of defeat. "That bitch." he muttered angrily. "Jesus, Nick. I'm so sorry for, for everything. For yesterday, for then, just for being an complete idiot."

Cutter looked at his best friend, slumped against the wall, alternating between anger at himself and Helen, and shame for how he'd behaved. Cutter smiled to himself, all of the anger he'd felt the day before evaporated, Stephen had been just as wronged as he had, actually even more so. Cutter gave Stephen a genuine smile.

"Don't worry about it." He told him casually, "Adolescence is all about making stupid mistakes. Besides, you actually helped me break a hold on me she'd had for too long. You did me a favor. You're my best friend, and I'm not going to flush away a lifetime of friendship over someone like Helen Carpenter." Cutter couldn't resist one last jab. "Sleep with Jenny, though," he added, "and I will kill you with my bare hands."

Stephen laughed, meeting Cutter's eyes, "You said yourself Jenny was classier that Helen, so she wouldn't sleep with me to get you back. She'll just have to resist my natural charm and good looks."

Cutter held up his fist in a mock threat, "Are you sure you don't want me to add to your facial injuries?" he asked, grinning so Stephen knew he was joking, "I'm sure you could pick up women with a broken nose, and I'd be happy to help."

The two laughed again and an amicable silence fell between them. Cutter looked at Stephen casually.

"So, sleeping with Helen," he began, "How was that?"

Stephen looked thoughtful for a moment. "Intimidating." He said after a moment. "You know I do alright with women, but she had way more experience than even I do."

Cutter shrugged, "That doesn't really surprise me." he said honestly.

After a few more moments of silence, Stephen spoke up again.

"What do we do now?" He asked. Cutter looked around.

"Well," he began, "we could sit here for the rest of the day, or we could join the others in the park."

Stephen began standing up. "Park sounds good to me," he said smiling, "I don't know if I could spend all day looking at just you."

Cutter laughed as he stood up as well, "Could be worse," he replied, "you could have to stare at someone who's happy about getting punched in the face."

As Stephen laughed, Cutter realized they were both standing up and looking at each other. Without speaking, they both walked forward and grabbed each other in a tight hug. After a moment, they both let go at the same time and began walking to the park to meet up with the other guys to be ridiculed over how long they couldn't last without each other.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN:** Here it is, the final chapter. Just so you know, it's ridiculously long. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

**Chapter 18**

Danny Quinn sat at school eating his lunch with his friends, enjoying the day and each other's company. After Becker's fight the previous month, Danny's group had grown enormous, and for some reason they all seemed to listen to him. Danny smiled to himself; it was time to reveal his best bad idea ever.

"Stephen, isn't the opening football match against Pinehurst coming up next Monday?" Danny asked casually. Pinehurst was the major rival of Danny's secondary school, and the first match of the season always brought out the most support. Stephen played forward for the school team.

"Yeah," Stephen replied, looking confused, "I've got the last practice tonight, then the weekend, and the match is Monday evening, why?"

Danny gave him one of what Sarah always called his "no-good grins". "Because I want to cause a little pre-game havoc."

Sarah looked at Danny and groaned, "Not this again." she said wearily, looking at the others. "He's been going on about his 'master plan' for weeks."

"It's a brilliant plan." Danny retorted in defense, "Nothing could go wrong."

"What's this plan?" Cutter asked, leaning in closer to hear Danny.

Danny grinned, "I want," he paused for dramatic effect, "to steal Pinehurst's mascot from their football field."

Becker looked at him incredulously, "You mean the three foot, solid metal panther they keep bolted to a pedestal in the fenced up football field in the center of the school?" he asked, shaking his head.

"And do you mean the really posh Pinehurst with the school-wide CCTV and private security force?" Jess added, looking at Danny like he was insane.

"Minor details," Danny said confidently, looking at his group expectantly, "c'mon guys, it'll be an easy job. Get in, grab it, and go."

"It doesn't sound like an easy job." Abby said, "I mean, Jess mentioned CCTV and a private security force." The others all voiced their agreement with Abby.

"I'm in." Matt said suddenly. Danny was taken aback; he'd expected to argue his point for a lot longer before he got a volunteer.

"No you're not." Emily countered, looking at Matt sternly.

"There's nothing to worry about." Matt assured her. That only made Emily angrier.

"You could worry about being arrested." She said, glaring at Danny. Danny prepared to defend himself, but Stephen spoke up.

"I'll go too," He said, "This could really tip the game, plus, it's way too much fun to pass up."

Danny grinned, this was going faster than he'd expected. He knew Cutter would go if Stephen did, and he could see Connor and Becker wavering. Danny gave Becker a nudge.

"What about it, Becker?" Danny asked with a grin, "You up for an adventure."

Becker sighed, "You'd never make it out if I didn't come along, I'm in." Danny grinned and clapped Becker on the shoulder.

"Well, now I've got to go too." Jess said with a sigh. Becker looked alarmed.

"You can't go." He said suddenly, "What if something happens?"

Jess patted his arm calmingly, "Then you'll have to protect me." she told him with a soft smile. "Besides, if I don't go, how are you going to get past the CCTV?"

Danny looked up with interest, "You're sure you can get past that?" he asked with excitement. Jess frowned at him.

"Of course I can get past it, I thought that's why you wanted me to come along."

Danny grinned, "Actually, I was just going to hand out masks, I agree with Becker on you coming, but it's your decision."

Jess gave him a patronizing look, "I'll be just fine, Danny. You don't have to worry about me, that's Becker's job."

"OK, hold on for just a minute," Jenny interjected suddenly, "you all seem pretty serious about this, but you do realize this is very illegal, right? I mean, you're talking about breaking and entering, theft, and hacking into a CCTV system. Those are felonies."

"I guess this is a bad time to mention that I'm in too, then." Cutter said, looking at Jenny. Danny punched the air in victory, he had almost the entire group. Jenny looked at Cutter in surprise.

"What do you mean you're going?" She asked in astonishment. Cutter shrugged.

"They'll need all the help they can get, and besides, it could be fun." As Jenny shook her head, Connor slapped the table.

"That settles it," He said, "I'm not going to be the only guy not going, I'm definitely in."

Abby sighed in frustration, "Then I guess I'm in too."

"And me." Emily added.

"Me too." Sarah said, putting her hand on Danny's arm in support. The entire group looked at Jenny. After a moment, she threw her hands up in defeat.

"Fine," she grumbled, "I guess you can count me in too."

Danny grinned, that had gone much better than he'd expected. The bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period.

"OK," He said to the group, "we'll meet up at Connor's house tonight at eight and go from there."

The others nodded their agreement as they stood up to leave. Danny took Sarah's hand and walked out of the cafeteria, the others dispersing behind.

XXXXX

Jess looked anxiously around at her friends while they stood waiting across the street from Pinehurst Secondary School. She had already set up her laptop on some crates Connor had found and she was working on hacking into the school's CCTV.

As she worked, Jess thought back to what Jenny had said earlier about the danger they were in. She knew they were all about to perform some illegal acts, her even more than the others. Jess pushed her worries aside and focused on the task at hand. She wished Becker was there to help calm her down, but he had gone with Danny to get something they needed for the heist.

Jess stopped for a moment, she realized that is really was a heist, she was part of a team that was going to break in and steal a statue. Jess could feel the panic rising, she couldn't be part of a heist, what if they got caught. Suddenly, someone put their hands on her shoulders and Jess, thinking about guards and policemen, jumped with a little shriek. The hands lifted immediately.

"Sorry," Becker said apologetically from behind her, "I didn't mean to scare you."

Jess stood up, "It's fine," she told him, "I'm just a little nervous, that's all."

Becker's face clouded with concern. "You don't have to go." He told her in a low voice, "I think Jenny and Sarah don't feel too confident about this either, the three of you could wait out here, provide surveillance."

Jess smiled at Becker; oddly, his worry for her helped calm her own fears. She didn't want him to go into the school without her, she wanted to be able to keep an eye on him and know everything was okay.

"I'll be fine," She gave him a confident smile, "don't worry about me."

As Becker returned the smile, Danny walked over in full command mode.

"Jess, how're we doing on those cameras?" He asked as a greeting. As Jess prepared to respond, her laptop made a small beeping noise.

"That means we're in." she told him as she sat back down on her crate and began tapping on the keyboard. After a moment, a row of camera visuals popped up on the screen.

"I'm recording everything that's going on right now." Jess explained to Danny and Becker without looking away from the screen. "Then, I'll replace the video feeds with this clip on a loop. No one should be able to notice a difference."

"What happens if they do notice a difference?" Danny asked.

"Then they'll have to reboot the entire system," Jess told him honestly, "That won't take more than about six or seven minutes. Once they reboot it, they'll have full visual again and find us in minutes."

"That's reassuring." Danny said. Jess could hear the note of worry in his voice, so she decided to tell him about her surprise.

"Of course," she added, making it sound like an afterthought, "if you were lucky enough to have a techogenius on your team who was able to inset a virus into their reboot system that would require a full scan from an expert, then if they rebooted the system, it wouldn't come back on again. If only you were that lucky."

"That's my genius." Becker said adoringly as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Jess felt immensely smug about herself, she knew she was pretty smart when it came down to it, but it was always nice to hear someone say it, especially when it was Becker. Jess stood up as Danny left to go corral everyone else.

"Let's go on our heist." Jess said with a grin, taking Becker's hand and walking towards the others.

XXXXX

As the group dispersed and headed across the street in casual groups of two or three, Connor tightened his grip on Abby's hand. She looked up at him.

"Nervous?" She asked with a little smirk.

"Yeah," Connor admitted, "aren't you?"

"Of course, this is illegal and dangerous." Abby told him, "But you were the one who wanted to go, I'm just here to keep you out of trouble."

Connor smiled at her in relief as they reached the front of the school. Danny had sent everyone over to the school in small staggered groups so they didn't attract attention. Connor and Abby had volunteered to go first and now they waited alone for the others.

"We look a bit conspicuous, just standing here." Abby muttered.

Without responding, Connor turned Abby around so her back was against the wall and pressed his lips to hers. Abby returned the kiss eagerly, grabbing hold of his jacket and pulling him closer.

After a few minutes, Becker coughed loudly, getting the couple's attention. Connor straightened up and turned a deep red. Abby faced their waiting friends and cleared her throat self-consciously. Danny grinned at the pair.

"If you're done mixing business and pleasure," he said, trying to look stern, "we've got work to do." He grinned at the end of his statement to let the pair know he was joking. As the group walked over to the front door, Danny pulled out his lock picking kit. However, when he got to the door, someone on the inside thrust it open.

Connor and the others stared in open-mouthed wonder at Helen Carpenter, who was holding the door open and giving everyone a falsely sweet smile.

"Well don't just stand there," she said, looking at Danny, "come on in." Danny stared back, lost for words.

"What are you doing here, Helen?" Cutter asked sharply, glaring at his ex. Connor noticed Stephen looked just as angry at her presence.

"I overheard you talking about your heist and thought you could use some help. You're much louder than you think, Danny." Helen smiled at Danny, who seemed to snap out of his shock.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Danny said firmly, "I think we'll be just fine without you, Helen. So just run along." Danny moved aside, gesturing for Helen to leave. Helen smiled maliciously.

"Fine, I'll go." She said, "But how were you planning on getting in? This door is going to take more than your little kit." She looked over all of them for a minute before saying, "Tell you what, I'll close and lock the door from the inside, if you can get it open, I'll leave. If not, just knock and I'll let you in." She closed the door and Connor heard the faint click of the lock.

As soon as the door closed, Danny crouched down to inspect the lock and Connor squatted down next to him.

"Damn," Danny muttered, "she's right, there's no way I can pick this." Connor groaned as Danny stood up and looked at Stephen and Cutter.

"It's your call," He told them, "she's your crazy. . . whatever. If you don't want her along, it's fine, I think we'd all understand that. We can pack it in now before we even enter the building." Connor watched the two boys. They looked at each other for a moment and Cutter sighed.

"It looks like we don't have much of a choice," Cutter said despondently, "I guess she's with us now." Connor noticed Cutter tighten his grip on Jenny's hand as he said it.

"That's settled then," Danny stated, looking angry, "Let's get her to let us in." Danny knocked once on the door, and after a moment, it opened again.

"Glad to see you're smarter than you look." She said tauntingly to Danny as he pushed past her into the building. Connor held the door while the rest of the group trooped inside, letting it swing shut behind him with a dull thump. This was it, they were in the belly of the beast now.

XXXXX

Danny led his group of friends and Helen through the hallways of the deserted school. Stephen stayed right behind him, directing him to the football field. The school was designed in an oval shape, with their football field located in the center, surrounded by the school itself. Danny was using Stephen, who'd been to the school in the past for football matches, as a guide.

"Helen," Jess said suddenly. Helen turned to look at her. "How did you get past the security cameras?" She asked. Helen just grinned mysteriously.

"All cameras have a blind spot." She responded cryptically. Danny heard Jess begin to argue again, but he cut her off with a hurried raised fist. Jess didn't know what it meant, but Becker clapped his hand over her mouth. Ahead in the hallway, Danny could hear footsteps. They sounded like they were about to round the corner that was thirty feet ahead. Danny gestured frantically for the group to move down a side hallway.

They rushed out of the way as quietly as they could, Danny bringing up the rear. As he slid into the other hall, he heard the footsteps come around the corner and continue to head towards them. He began to panic slightly, the hallway he'd led them into was a dead end, and they had nowhere to go. Suddenly, he heard a click and one of the classroom doors opened. Danny looked at Helen, who was crouched in front of the doorknob with her lock picks, in shock. She motioned towards the unlocked classroom and the others hurried inside. This time, Becker was the last one through, and as he softly closed the door, Danny heard the footsteps pass in front of the hallway the classroom was on.

Danny let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding as the footsteps grew quieter as they moved away.

"Private security," Sarah whispered quietly, "now we know they make rounds as well as watch the cameras." Danny looked over his group, they'd only been in the building for minutes and they already look frayed and exhausted.

"C'mon guys," He whispered encouragingly, "we didn't get caught, we're all fine. We can still do this." Thankfully, Becker nodded.

"Danny's right." He said, looking around at the others, "We can do this no problem." he gave everyone an encouraging smile and looked at Danny. "What's the next move?" He asked. Danny grinned back at him, he knew Becker would always have his back.

"We press on." He told them confidently, pushing open the door and leading the way out.

XXXXX

As Danny led everyone out and towards the field, Becker brought up the rear, closing the classroom door behind them. As always, Jess stayed in the back with him. He would have preferred she stay in the middle, where she would be with the group if something happened, but she wouldn't leave him. Becker also knew that the gesture just made him love her more than he had before. As they walked, Becker noticed Jess frowning while she looked at Helen.

"What's wrong?" He asked in a whisper to not alert anyone else.

"I'm not sure," Jess replied with a tinge of confusion in her voice, "it's just something about Helen isn't sitting right with me. Too many things don't add up." Now it was Becker's turn to frown.

"What do you mean, they don't add up?" He asked, now looking intently at Helen as well.

"Just little stuff." Jess said, "Like she didn't seem that concerned when we heard the guard, like it didn't matter to her whether we got caught or not. And there was something odd about her lock picks, but I can't put my finger on it yet."

Becker was about to reply with a reassuring statement, but Danny gestured for the group to halt again. He motioned for Becker to move up front. When he got to Danny, Becker saw the doors leading out to the football field. Danny pointed happily to the panther statue on the far end of the field. Danny looked at him with a serious expression.

"Did you bring them?" He asked. Becker stared at Danny in amazement.

"Of course I brought them. We made a special trip to get them, you went with me. We did it half an hour ago."

Danny held his hands up in a defensive gesture, "Alright, alright, calm down mate, just making sure." Danny held out his hand and Becker reached into one of the deep pockets that ran down the leg of his cargo pants and pulled out one of the two crowbars he and Danny had purchased earlier in the day. Connor looked at them with confusion.

"What do we need crowbars for?" He asked while Danny began unlocking the door leading to the field.

"The panther is bolted down." Becker explained, "the crowbars are to lift it up and break the bolts."

"It'll work." Danny said in response to Connor's look of skepticism. Danny stood up and opened the door, leading the way into the field. Becker and the others followed

And stopped immediately. In the center of the field lay a half dozen German Shepards sleeping in a large pile. Sarah's gasp of surprise alerted them to their presence and they bolted awake, growling as they advanced.

"Nice doggies." Danny said in a low calming voice. Connor groaned.

"You're not going to believe this, Danny." He said, "Do you see the sign that says, guard dog training was today and tomorrow. There's no way we're that unlucky."

"So these are..." Becker said, worry over Jess growing.

"Yeah," Matt cut in, "Guard dogs in training."

The twelve students tried slowly backing away, but the dogs advanced, still growling. Becker could see Helen trying to open the door, which had locked behind them, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. There were too many dogs for them to outrun, he had to split them up and hopefully keep Jess safe.

"Hey," He called, waving his arms to get the dogs attention, "Yeah, look over here." As he called to the dogs, Becker moved away from the others, trying to get on the side of the mass of dogs. To his surprise, Danny moved with him. They called and tried to distract the dogs from the main group, but now their attention was split. Becker and Danny were to the left of the dogs now, prepared to run down the length of the field, but there were still too many dogs focused on the main group.

As Becker prepared to move away from Danny, Connor suddenly split himself from the others and began waving his arms and calling to the dogs as well. It worked, with two dogs watching him, three watching Becker and Danny, and only one dog on the main group, which was waiting by the door which Helen had opened. Becker looked at Connor, who looked terrified, but resolute.

"OK, everybody," Danny said, obviously trying to keep his voice level, "We run on three... three!"

At Danny's sudden yell, Becker turned and ran, Danny right beside him. The dogs gave chase. As they ran, Becker could hear the dogs panting and the noises of the main group trying to get through the door as fast as possible. The dogs were steadily gaining on Becker and Danny as they ran down the field. Suddenly, Becker realized something that he should have done before.

"Keep going." He yelled to Danny, "I have an idea."

As Danny ran, Becker turned quickly and pulled the BB pistol his father had given him for his twelfth birthday out from under his waistband. He fired at the oncoming dogs, hoping the mild pain would discourage them from continuing to chase him. It did, and Becker was happy to realize that he could still hit a moving target while running. The yelps of the retreating dogs caught Danny's attention and he walked back to Becker, panting for breath, Becker looked at his best friend with wild grin.

"You said, don't be stupid, why would we need a BB gun." Becker crowed, still high on the adrenaline rush. "Well now who's the stupid one and who's the big man with the gun?" Danny looked back at Becker with a disbelieving grin .

"If you're so smart," He taunted back, "why didn't you use that earlier and save us the running and splitting up?" Becker deflated a little.

"I didn't think about it before, I kinda forgot I brought it."

Danny laughed, "Come on then, big man with a gun. Let's go get that statue." As they walked back to the other end of the field, Becker looked at Danny.

"How is it we brought a dozen people with us, and it's still going to be just you and me that have to lift the stupid panther." Danny just laughed and he pulled out his crowbar.

XXXXX

Abby ran with the rest of the group back inside the building. Unfortunately, one stubborn dog decided to follow them in as well. As the door closed and the remaining students looked at it, there was a moment of silence while both sides evaluated each other.

Suddenly the dog charged at the group, which turned as one unit and charged down the halls, the dog right behind them. As they ran, Abby's thoughts kept going back to Connor, who'd also gone as a diversion. She couldn't believe he'd been that stupid, trying to outrun two half trained guard dogs. But on the other hand, she could believe he was that selfless, and that was what she loved about him, which she would tell him if they both survived their dog-related ordeals.

Helen, who had taken the lead, suddenly turned down a random hallway. Abby and the others followed her and then stopped short when they saw that the hallway was a dead end as well. Abby turned around and saw the guard dog, standing in between the group and the main hallway. As they backed up, the dog advanced, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted in exhaustion.

Emily suddenly stepped forward and pulled out a thin dagger that had been tucked into the back of her belt.

"Yah!" She yelled, waving the knife in the dog's direction. "Go on," She said firmly, still waving the knife threateningly, "get out of here."

The dog looked confused for a moment, but as Emily got closer, the dog began backing away. Emily gave a sudden lunge forward and the dog bolted away. She smiled at the others as she put away her knife. Matt walked forward and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Where did you get that knife?" Abby asked curiously as Matt let go of Emily.

"It was my grandfather's." She responded conversationally, as though she hadn't just pulled it on a dog and scared it off. Abby was about to make a comment on how well she'd done when she heard one of the classroom doors open. She whirled around to see Connor walk out, barefoot and looking exhausted. Abby stared at him as he looked at the group in surprise.

"Didn't take long to find you lot, did it?" He said, looking cheerful. Abby walked closer to him. He looked at her with a grin, and then Abby hit him on the arm.

"Oww," He whined, "what was that for?"

"For being an idiot." Abby told him. "What were you thinking?"

"I didn't want you to get hurt." He muttered sheepishly. Abby felt her sudden anger melt away. She could never stay mad at him for long, especially when he cared so much. She moved closer and gave him a quick kiss.

"I was worried you were hurt." She admitted. Connor wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

"I'm fine," He assured her in a whisper, "perfectly okay." As he let her go, Abby looked over him again to check that statement for herself. Then Cutter asked the question they were all wondering.

"Connor, where are your shoes?"

Connor just grinned at them. "I needed a diversion, didn't I?"

Abby looked at him, unconvinced. "I have trouble believing you of all people would sacrifice your shoes. Especially your Doctor Who converses." Connor looked sheepish again.

"Well, I didn't plan it so much as one came off and the dogs started fighting over it, so I ditched the other one as well so they'd both be entertained. And luckily, that classroom window was open, so I climbed inside."

Abby looked at Connor with adoration. "You did good," She told him, happy to see him beam over the compliment, "Danny and Becker couldn't have done it better."

"I'm afraid I might have to disagree with you there." Said a voice from the other end of the hallway. Abby looked and saw Danny and Becker standing next to a large panther statue, looking incredibly pleased with themselves. Jess and Sarah rushed forward to hug their respective boyfriends and the rest of the group moved in to congratulate them as well.

"How'd you get away from the dogs?" Stephen asked.

"Becker came here packing heat." Danny replied jokingly. Becker sighed and pulled out a pistol from under his shirt.

"It's just a BB gun," he explained, "I just shot the dogs a few times to scare them off."

Jess frowned at her boyfriend. "I understand why you did it," She told him, "but I still don't agree with hurting dogs, even if they are chasing you." As Abby nodded her agreement, Danny pressed on with the story.

"And then, it was an easy job to pull out the bolts, pick the lock again, and-" But before he could finish, Jess gasped loudly.

"Lock picks," She exclaimed, "I knew there was something wrong with them. Helen has the same lock picks as you do, Danny." Jess looked at each person in turn, waiting for someone to understand her point. Abby felt just as confused as everyone else.

Jess gave a sigh of frustration. "How did Helen get in if she has the same kit as you do, and you couldn't?" Danny's eyes widened in shock as Abby looked around.

"Where is Helen?" She asked. The others all looked around in shock as well.

"She must have slipped out when Connor got back." Jenny reasoned. As she finished her statement, alarms went off all over the building. They all looked at each other in shock and fear.

"Helen!" Cutter exclaimed "She must have warned them there were intruders."

Danny took charge immediately. "Everyone move," He yelled, "back out the front doors, let's go!" He and Becker picked up the statue again as the group ran down the hallway to the front door.

Stephen got there first, but the door wouldn't open. He slammed his fist on the door angrily.

"It's locked and sealed." He told the others as they caught up. "I don't think it can be opened while the alarms are tripped."

Abby heard boots running down one of the side hallways, leading to them. She grabbed Connor's hand for support and he squeezed hers back, giving her a small smile. She knew that whatever happened, they'd be fine as long as they were together.

XXXXX

Becker sat down his end of the mascot and looked around in desperation. He saw Danny who was pacing hurriedly while trying to think of a way out. Becker looked through the group, at Cutter holding Jenny in a tight embrace and at Connor and Abby, simply holing each other's hands for support. Then his eyes fell on Jess. She was terrified, and Becker thought about the big future she was sure to have ahead of her, she didn't need this. He knew what he had to do.

He grabbed Danny by the shoulders and shook him to get him to focus.

"Main hallway, straight down, take the last hall on the left, it'll take you to a door that leads back to the field. I saw it while we were outside, it's wooden and it looks flimsy. Knock it down and cut through the field to the woods on the far backside, behind the bleachers. Climb the fence and get out of here." Becker looked directly into Danny's eyes, "And make sure you get Jess home safe." He added. Danny nodded, he knew what Becker was going to do.

"Good luck" Becker said as he let go of Danny's shoulders. Danny could only nod. Becker turned to Jess, who was looking at him questioningly, and pulled her into a deep kiss. He could only savor it for a moment before he let her go. She looked at Becker, then at Danny, still trying to figure out what was going on.

Becker gave the group one last look before pulling out his BB gun and moving in front of the side hallway the guards were coming from.

"C'mon then!" He yelled down the hallway, "You want an intruder, come and get one." The first guard came barreling around the corner, and Becker peppered him with BBs. He aimed for the face and hands, trying to get as much bare skin as possible. The guard fell back and scrambled back behind the cover of the wall. Becker could hear the footsteps of his friends getting more and more distant. He bent his knees slightly and waited for another overweight security guard to come around the corner.

One did come, rushing towards Becker with his head lowered and tucked into his shoulder, giving Becker less of a target. After firing off a few pot shots, Becker turned and bolted down the opposite hallway, trying to lead the guards away from the main hallway and his friends.

His plan worked, Becker noticed as he ran, firing wildly over his shoulder. He seemed to have every guard on the Pinehurst payroll after him. Luckily, he was in much better shape and was beginning to outrun them. As he ran, he saw Helen walking out of a random classroom. Her eyes widened as she saw Becker, but he didn't have time to explain the situation, he simply muscled past her, shoving open the door she'd been about to close. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her inside, closing the door behind them.

As Helen was about to protest, Becker clamped his hand over her mouth. He really was tired of hearing her anyways. Helen stopped struggling as she heard the guards run past. When their footsteps faded into the distance, Becker took his hand away from her mouth.

"Where've you been?" He asked angrily before she could say anything. Helen glared back at Becker, hatred pouring out of her gaze.

"I was alerting the authorities that they had intruders in the building." She said coldly. Becker couldn't believe his ears.

"What?" He asked in a combination of shock and anger. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"To get back at Nick and Stephen." She answered honestly, "I went to Pinehurst today after school and hid in one of the bathrooms. Then I let you in. After that, I let you steal the mascot, then snuck away to call the guards. The only problem is, now I'm stuck inside too."

Becker slumped back, exhausted. He knew that the night would probably involve much more running and he wanted to take a minute to recuperate. As he tried to regulate his breathing, he notice Helen was still staring at him.

"What?" He snapped, glaring at her/

"Help me." She said plainly. That caught Becker's attention.

"Help you?" He repeated incredulously, "I can't believe you even have the audacity to ask me to help you. I'm helping you by not tying you up and leaving you behind." Becker glared at her, his anger rising. "In fact, get going. I want you gone now, maybe they'll catch you and give me time to get out." Helen stared back at him in disbelief. Becker gestured with his gun. "Go on," He said, "get going, you're on your own now." Helen glared daggers at him, but she got up sullenly and left the room.

Becker counted slowly to twenty before getting up as well. He looked out of the door cautiously and carefully moved outside. As he pulled the door shut behind him, he heard a woman screaming further down the hallway. Becker recognized the voice as Helen and prepared to leave her. He'd gotten no further than two steps down the hallway before his father's voice came into his head. His father would never have left someone behind, even someone like Helen. Becker sighed to himself, if he got caught for her, he'd kill her.

Becker turned and began running towards the sound of Helen struggling with her captors. As he rounded the corner, he began popping off shots from his pistol. He caught the man trying to restrain Helen directly in the forehead. He let go of Helen with a cry of pain and clutched hid head. Helen fell to the floor and scrabbled backwards, trying to get up and get away at the same time.

As she reached Becker, still on the ground, Becker grabbed her shirt collar and pulled her to her feet while shooting at the other guard who was trying to radio for backup. Becker aimed for the man's hand, causing him to drop the radio on the ground, which split open, spilling circuits and wires all over the floor. Becker recognized his chance and grabbed Helen's arm, dragging her along with him as he bolted back along the hallway.

As they ran, Helen jerked her arm free and ran alongside Becker, as opposed to being dragged behind him. Becker went over the school's blueprint in his head, trying to remember what classrooms would lead outside. With a sudden movement, Becker slammed into one of the thin wooden classroom doors, smashing it off its hinges. He scanned the room for anything to use before finally deciding on an art project that looked like a decorated brick. As he retrieved the brick, Helen looked at him with surprise.

"You came back for me." She said, her voice softer than it usually was. Becker didn't spare her a glance.

"Yeah, I didn't want you talking your hateful head off, giving them all our names, so I made sure you got out." Becker ended the conversation by slamming the brick into the top of the window frame, knocking the pane halfway out of the window. As he reared the brick back again, he felt something pulling at the back of his waistband. He turned around in shock to see Helen holding his BB gun. She looked at him and smiled.

"You keep knocking out that window," she said sweetly, "and I'll watch the door." Becker would prefer it if she didn't have his gun, but he knew he didn't have time to argue about it now. As he smashed the brick into the frame, he heard Helen firing off his gun.

"Any time you're ready," She called back to Becker as she fired more BBs, "Sooner, better than later." Becker grunted as he slammed the brick against the pane for the final time, sending the window falling to the ground outside. Becker ran to Helen.

"Give me the gun and go." He ordered. Helen nodded once and passed the gun over as she ran back to the open window. Becker realized he was still holding the brick and threw it at a guard who was trying to cover himself from BBs. The brick hit him in the knee and he went down with a scream of pain.

"Becker!" Helen shouted from outside, "Let's go." Becker fired off a few more rounds at the men who were trying to help the guy he'd hit with the brick; and then he bolted back to the window, clambering through it and running off the school's campus and as far away as he could get.

XXXXX

Jess sat on Connor's couch, looking around at her group of depressed friends, feeling the same thing they were, only much more intensified. The only person who seemed to be more upset with themselves was Danny, who she could tell blamed himself for Becker's sacrifice.

Sacrifice seemed overly dramatic, but in reality, that's what Becker had done, he'd sacrificed himself so they could get away. Jess looked at everyone again, each person was lost in his or her own personal thoughts. Even though it was getting close to one in the morning, no one seemed to want to leave, everyone seemed content to sit together and wonder what he or she could have done differently so that Becker would be there with them.

A loud knock on the door seemed to jar everyone out of their respective thoughts. Connor looked around wildly.

"It's almost one in the morning," he muttered incredulously, "Who's visiting at one in the morning?" He stood up and left the living room to get the door. After a few moments, he walked back into the room.

"Jess, it's for you." Connor said calmly. Jess looked at him in confusion.

"Who would be here for me?" She asked. Connor shrugged.

"There's a guy at the door who says he has something for Jess Parker." Connor sat back down next to Abby and gestured at the door. "Well don't keep him waiting."

Jess got up shakily and headed out of the living room and down the hallway. She tried to control the trembling in her hands as she opened the door. Her jaw hit the floor.

Standing in front of her was Becker, apparently unhurt, smiling at her wider than she'd ever seen him smile. She couldn't make words form, she was dumbstruck by the sight of Becker, just being there. He seemed to understand and swept her up in his arms, holding her tightly against his chest.

Jess sank into his embrace and she felt tears running down her face, soaking into Becker's black shirt. Becker looked down and kissed her on the top of the head, tightening his grip on her. After a moment, Jess looked up at him and he leaned in to kiss her like they'd never kissed before. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten about the other people who'd want to see Becker as well.

"You better be careful, mate." Danny called from the end of the hallway. "She's got a big dangerous boyfriend who's been arrested. You don't want to mess with a man like that." Jess let go of Becker to allow Danny to walk up to him. They clapped their hands together and grabbed each other in the traditional one-armed man hug.

After they broke apart, Danny led Becker back inside, where he was greeted by everyone else. The women all got up to hug him and the men shook his hand. Everyone was grinning ecstatically as Becker took a seat on the couch with his arm around Jess.

"Since nobody else is gonna ask, I will." Danny said after a few minutes, "How the hell did you get out?"

Becker gave a cocky grin, "You know," he said casually, "the usual combination of daring, innovation, and good old fashioned Becker-family skill."

Danny laughed loudly, "So stupidity, dumb luck, and making it up as you go along?" Becker simply shook his head.

"Something like that." He conceded. Becker looked to where Cutter and Stephen were sitting. "I met Helen," He told them, "She set off the alarm, but got stuck inside too."

"What happened to her?" Stephen asked. Jess saw a strange look of guilt cross Becker's face, but it was only for a second.

"She made it out." He told them, "I smashed out a window and we went our separate ways. I don't know where she is now, only that she got away."

Everyone was silent for a moment, lost in their own thoughts. Becker spoke up again.

"It's too bad we didn't get the mascot." He said with a tone of defeat. Jess smiled as she looked at Danny, who was grinning ear to ear. Becker saw their smiles.

"You didn't..." He began slowly. Danny continued to grin as he stood up and moved the chair he was sitting in to reveal their stolen mascot, the Pinehurst Panther. Becker shot straight up.

"You didn't." He repeated, "How did you get that over a ten foot fence?" Danny walked over to Sarah and put his hands on her shoulders.

"We went through it." He stated calmly. "I thought it would have been a real shame to have come all that way, and leave the mascot. So we carried it with us. When we got to the fence, Sarah pulled out a pair of wire cutters she brought in her purse and we cut our way out."

Becker looked at Sarah in amazement, "You brought wire cutters?" Sarah grinned back in response. Becker walked over to the mascot and placed a hand on its head. He looked at Jess with an expression of sheer bliss.

"We pulled it off." he said after a moment, "I can't believe we pulled it off."

_fin_

**AN:** Wow, I've finally finished _Primeval High_, thank you to everyone who read and reviewed this story it really meant a lot to me and I loved reading every review. And special thanks to people like Hilary Parker, Heyarandomgal, and auntineenah for reviewing every chapter, I knew I could always count on getting feedback from you three and you have no idea how helpful that was. And now to shamelessly promote my next story, _Primeval: Next Generation._ It's the story of what happens when the ARC's been shut down for years, but anomalies begin opening back up. It follows the people who had experience with anomalies in the show as children, like Ben from the first episode or Taylor from the second season. It'll have action, laughs, and cameos from the original ARC members, plus, a very special team leader who's spent quite a lot of time in the past. That's right, I'm bringing back Danny Quinn. And most importantly, I planned this story out, as opposed to making it up as I went along like I've done here. Anyways, the first chapter is up, so please give it a read and plenty of reviews. Thank you for reading _Primeval High_.


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